Choices
by Lauren Ballard
Summary: As a suggestion from Stefan, Elena wears more vervain than just her necklace. Damon doesn't know this, and so when he compels her to forget that he loves her...It doesn't work. Will Elena feel the same? Would she choose Damon over Stefan? [DISCONTINUED]
1. Selfish

**My first Vampire Diaries Fanfic! Woohoo! Hope you enjoy :)****

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Chapter One

After all the events of the day, Elena was exhausted and ready to sleep. Yawning, she pushed open the door into her bedroom and stepped inside.

"Cute PJs," someone said. Elena jumped and traced the voice to the window, where Damon sat, leaning forward and toying with something small and silver. He smiled weakly.

"I'm tired, Damon." Elena said, her tone suggesting that he should leave. Instead, he stood up and took a step towards her. In his hand he held up a silver chain with an oval pendant – Elena immediately recognised it as her vervain necklace.

"Brought you this," Damon murmured, still smiling. Elena took in a deep breath and said,

"I thought that was gone." Damon shook his head once, still holding it up.

"Thank you," Elena breathed when he said nothing, reaching for the necklace. As soon as she got close, Damon pulled back, leaving Elena's hand reaching for air. She lowered it slowly and stared at him.

"Please give it back..." Elena said quietly, sensing where this was going.

"I just have to say something." Damon said, getting a quick response.

"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?" She asked as a sense of unease washed over her.

"Because what I'm about to say is..." Damon paused. "Probably the most selfish thing I've ever said in my _life._" Elena began to shake her head.

"Damon, don't go there." She warned.

"Look, I just have to say it once." Damon spread his hands, stepping forward as Elena stepped back.

"You just need to hear it," he continued. A serious look suddenly spread across his face, and he took a deep breath.

"I love you, Elena," he said, not moving his gaze into her eyes. "And it's _because _I love you... I can't be selfish with you."

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Elena felt tears well in her eyes. She couldn't handle this. She had wanted to prove that she was _not _like Katherine, and what happened in 1864 wouldn't happen to her. But looking at her situation, it was the same deadly love triangle.

Elena was speechless, watching Damon.

"You can't know this," he said, blinking several times to clear the tears in his eyes. He tilted his head to the side, watching Elena's expression.

"I don't deserve you. But my brother does." Damon murmured, leaning forward. Elena summoned up courage and took in a breath to speak, but his lips were already pressed to her forehead. She could only see his pale neck, and after a second he pulled back to face her again. She swallowed and breathed deeply, not sure what to think.

"God, you shouldn't have to forget this..." Damon muttered. "But you do." He came close again, and Elena saw his black pupil expand slightly. She recognised what he was doing –trying to compel her. Her vervain bracelet felt heavy on her wrist, and she closed her eyes to stop tears from escaping her eyes.

"Damon -" when she opened her eyes, Damon was gone and her vervain necklace was around her neck. Elena's window was wide open and wind blew the curtains. Taking in a shaky breath, she sat on the corner of her bed, allowing herself to now cry.

. . .

It was for the best.

That's what Damon kept thinking. It was best that Elena didn't know of his feelings for her, and remained oblivious. But to him, it was unfair. He had loved Katherine, but she had only been using him and had always loved his brother, Stefan.

Elena was similar – not just in appearance. She loved Stefan – it would _always _be Stefan. Damon felt that the only people he loved were those that he _couldn't have._ He let out a yell into the darkness, not sure of what he was saying.

"Damon?" his brother Stefan approached him. They stood in the darkness in the woods surrounding Mystic Falls, extremely pale against the dark surroundings.

"What?" Damon gritted his teeth, facing Stefan.

"Are you okay?" he asked, cautiously approaching him.

"Yes." Damon forced out the words. "Fine." Before Stefan could say any more, he was ghosting through the trees, headed to the boarding house.

As he passed behind houses, he heard humans inside. Their breathing, their heartbeats... It all seemed to call out to Damon. He wanted to _kill._ To let out his pain on another - to satisfy his thirst.

When he had nearly reached the boarding house, a little gasp caught his attention. Damon slowed and came to a stop behind a small white house. A girl was standing near Damon, holding a bird feeder as if she was about to hang it on the fence. She was frozen, staring at him with wide eyes.

Her hair was dark brown and grew to the middle of her back, where it was cut evenly. Her skin was pale and her features small, especially her little mouth that was hanging open. The girl's eyes were a warm brown, and all of it seemed to remind him of someone. She was as tall as Elena and looked about the same age.

This drew Damon in, smirking slightly as he heard her breaths come quicker. He advanced forward, hearing her heart pounding and smelling the blood that coursed through her veins. She was still unmoving, but had managed to drop the birdfeeder.

As Damon got closer, he opened his mouth and let his fangs come down, getting a small whimper from the girl. He didn't waste any more time and went straight for her throat, grabbing her shoulder and pushing her head back. He bit roughly, tearing at the skin on her neck. Finally, at a useless time, the girl let out a strangled scream and tried unsucessfully to pry Damon off.

After a few seconds, he felt the last drops of blood seep from her and realised that her screaming had stopped. He stepped back and let her fall to the ground, wiping the remaining blood of off his mouth. Damon quickly looked around, and when he noticed that no one was around he swung the dead girl up into his arms and carried her out into the woods to a stream not to far away.

Lazily, he dumped her in the rushing water and watched as she floated downstream. He was satisfied, but couldn't keep the sense of disgust out. He hated himself for being this monster, but he would never admit that to anyone, not even Elena.

Sighing, Damon turned around and continued home.

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**Thanks for reading! Sorry it was such a short chapter... I seem to always make my first ones short! If you liked it, please review. If you didn't, please review with... Constructive critisism? :)**


	2. Rose

**Wow, one chapter and four alerts! Thanks to everyone that alerted or reviewed. :) I usually don't update this frequently (it's been an hour! WOAH!) but I'm not going to school today because I'm ill and therefore I have a lot of free time! :D

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**Chapter Two**

The first thing Damon noticed as he entered the front door was that someone else was there.

In the large, spacious living room the fire was burning – strange because Stefan never lit it. A shadow belonging to a figure behind the bookcase cast across the carpet, and Damon prepared himself for a fight. That was now what he usually expected from other vampires, and due to the fact that he couldn't smell human blood, this person was a vampire.

Before Damon could charge up and confront him or her, she stepped out from behind the bookcase, noticing his arrival. Damon recognised her as Rose, one of the two vampires that had kidnapped Elena to try and deliver her to Elijah, one of the Originals. She bit her lip and gave a forced smile, but Damon saw her eyes shining with tears.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, taking a few steps forward. Rose didn't move, but set down the glass she was holding.  
"I'm not here to hurt you." She murmured quickly, looking down.

"Well that doesn't mean you can come here." Damon snapped, nostrils flaring.

"I can help you!" Rose pleaded, meeting his eyes again. "I'm sorry, but I did what I did to save myself and Trevor." Her accent was unmistakably English, but her voice faltered when she said Trevor's name.

"It didn't work, though. I was hoping that he'd spare him but..." Rose paused and looked away for a moment.

"It turns out that I'm still on the run." She gave a weak smile.

"Good for you, now -" Damon began.

"How would you help us?" Stefan marched into the living room, standing in front of the other entrance.

"She can't. What makes you think she would, anyway?" Damon insisted, clenching his fists.

"I'm not here to hurt you," she insisted again, seeing Damon's expression.

"They why are you here?" Stefan asked, raising a hand to stop Damon from saying anything more.

"Lexi once told me that you were one of the good ones." Rose said.

"You knew Lexi." Stefan said. It wasn't a question.

"Trevor was my best friend. For five hundred years I have lived with one person... And he's gone. And I don't want to run anymore because I don't have anywhere else to run to." Rose took a few steps forward, smiling slightly.

"Well I'm sorry but we can't help you," Stefan said quietly.

"I don't need your help," Rose murmured. "But I think you need mine." She turned serious now, walking up to the table. Stefan and his brother just stared, waiting.

"Elijah may be dead but this isn't over." She warned.

"What do you mean?" Damon spoke up.

"It isn't over. The Originals. They'll come for her – they have to, they're doing it for him." Rose's eyes widened, realising that the Salvatore brothers didn't know.

"For who?" Stefan asked, getting annoyed.

"Klaus."

**. . . **

"Elena is _not _going to like this..." Damon grumbled when Rose had gone upstairs.

"We can't just let the Originals kill Rose!" Stefan insisted.

"Why not? She was prepared to do that to Elena!" his brother yelled, smashing a glass in his hand. A single little shard stuck in his hand. Annoyed, Damon plucked it out and watched as the little wound healed in only a second.

"But she can help us!" Stefan snapped back. "We know _nothing _about the Originals and Klaus, and where does that get us? Nowhere. I say we accept Rose's help – hell, we should be accepting _any _help!"

"You're making a mistake." Damon warned.

"No, Damon, I'm not." Stefan insisted, storming out of the room. He left his brother leaning against the wooden table, holding an empty glass. He raised his hand and threw it into the fire where it shattered into a million pieces.

"I know you don't want me here, but you have to trust me. The only way you'll be able to protect Elena is if you get help - I'm offering it." Rose said from behind Damon. He spun around to glare at her.

She took a step forward out of the shadows, cautiously walking towards Damon.

"You expect me to trust you? _Really_? All _you_ want to do," he jabbed a finger towards her. "Is to stop running. To be free of hiding. Helping us would ruin your chances of that completely. In fact, Klaus would be ever angrier with you... Are you sure you want that?" he snapped.

Rose was silent for a few moments.

"I know you love her." she burst. "Elena. If you didn't, you wouldn't be this unsure of trusting me." Damon paused, waiting.

"Alright." he said dryly. "Go tell her then. Whoop-Dee-Doo, you've figured it out."

"I wouldn't do that!" Rose said quickly. "Because she loves Stefan. She's got enough to deal with right now."

Damon didn't speak, but instead turned his back on her and poured himself a drink. He didn't care to read the label, all he knew was that it was some sort of achohol. As he drank, Rose spoke again, smiling.

"You can turn it off, you know. Your emotions. Your pain." she said. "You don't have to suffer."

"I will if you do." Damon said, lowering his drink. Rose's weak smile faltered.

"I wish I could," she murmured, tears welling in her eyes. "Trevor and I... We were best friends. Nothing more - well, to him. I loved him, and he never felt the same. He loved Katerina once, and many others. Never me. I can't just forget how I feel about him."

"So you understand my situation." Damon muttered.

Rose ran a hand through her short, spiky brown-auburn hair, sighing.

"I guess there's nothing we can do then." she grinned again, the smile not reaching her eyes.

**. . .**

"Hey, Stefan." Elena smiled, holding her cell phone against her ear. She had her brown bag swung over her shoulder and was about to head out the door for school.

"Hey. So...uh... I won't see you at school today." Stefan said through the phone.

"Oh. What's going on?" Elena asked. "Hold on." She lowered the phone and turned back to face the house.

"Jeremy you're going to be late! Bye Jenna!" she called.

"See you..." came Jenna's lazy response.

"Coming!" Jeremy yelled from upstairs. Elena put the phone back to her ear.

"Okay. So?"

"Well... And don't freak out okay? Rose has offered to help us -"

"Rose as in... The vampire that kidnapped me?" Elena gasped.

"I -"

"_Rose, _the one who tried to hand me over to my _death_? _That _Rose?" Elena nearly yelled, careful to keep her voice quiet enough that Jenna wouldn't hear. Jeremy finally came bounding down the stairs, backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Elena -" Stefan began.

"Yup. _That _Rose." Damon interrupted his brother.

"Am I on speaker?" Elena asked.

"Yup, again!" Damon cheered. His voice brought memories of the previous night back to her, and she felt she couldn't speak for a moment.

Damon sensed this and continued.

"Rose offered to help us with our little _Klaus problemo_, Stefan here say 'Sure!' and now I'm the only one wanting her out-of-the-house!" his tone sped up and slowed at random times, some words slurring.

"Damon... Are you drunk? No, nevermind. _Stefan_, he's drunk, right?" Elena nearly laughed. Stefan sighed.

"Yeah. He's been drinking all night."

"No!" Damon whined. "Just a _little _bit." Jeremy was with Elena at the door, telling her to hurry up and go. She handed him her keys to her new car - after the last one flipped after a little vampire-caused accident - and waved him away, following. Since Jeremy was now seventeen he was legally able to drive, but Jenna wouldn't allow him to get his own car.

Too many car accidents had happened to their family.

Once they were in the car, Elena put the phone back to her ear.

"...Elena? Hello?" Stefan asked.

"Na-Na-No, little brother. It's, _hello?_" Damon dragged out the 'O', sounding like a child.

"Yep, right here. Why exactly did you accept her help? How can you trust her?" Jeremy gave Elena a quizzical look as he heard these words.

_What are you talking about? _He mouthed. Elena waved her hand in a _Nothing_ guesture.

"She knows _stuff _about Klaus-Mouse and the worst-curse." Damon chuckled.

"Uh...Basically what Damon said. Rose knows a lot more than we do about Klaus and the curse, and she may be able to help us find him." Stefan explained. Another voice, distincively Rose's, joined the conversation.

"You don't find Klaus, Klaus finds _you_."

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**Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, please review :)**


	3. Undying

**Chapter Three**

"There must be _some _way to get to him." Stefan persisted.

"Why would you _want _to find Klaus?" Rose asked, eyes narrowed.

"If this curse stuff is true –"

"And it _is_!" She interrupted Stefan.

"Okay, so say it is. Wouldn't it be smarter to go and kill him before he can come to Mystic Falls? It would put a lot of people in danger if we just waiter for him to come." He explained.

"_Kill _Klaus?" Rose gaped. "No. Not possible. He is the first vampire. Creator of all other vampires. There is _no _way you'd be able to kill him."

"There has to be _some _way. We'll just do some good old digging..." Damon trailed off.

"It's suicide!" Rose cried. "You can't possibly destroy –"

"Actually," said another familiar voice from behind them. The three vampires spun around to see who it was, Damon rushing ahead.

"It's possible." He finished. Damon came to an abrupt halt at the doorway to the living room, glaring at the man that stood in the hall way.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped.

"Well," the man shrugged. "'Thought I might help you... After all, I _do _know significantly more than you about the Originals."

"Like you could help – as I remember, the last time we met you were trying to kill me." Damon snorted.

"But what do you know about Klaus?" Stefan added, stepping behind Damon to make himself visible to their 'guest'.

"A lot more than you do." He said simply. "But before I share it with you, I need to know that I can trust you. After all, Damon and I _do _have a history of trying to kill each other. I seem to recall that he succeeded once – oh, sorry, _nearly_." The man smirked, watching Damon's scowl.

Rose finally joined in the conversation, calling from behind the brothers in the living room.

"Who is it?" she asked, trying to see around Damon and Stefan. When they didn't reply, Rose took another doorway and flashed around the corner to where their guest was. Recognising him, she froze; eyes wide.

"Jonathan Gilbert?" She whispered. "But... I... I killed you..."Rose trailed off. John lifted his right hand and wiggled his fingers, smirking. On his index finger was a large black ring with a small symbol in silver that Damon couldn't quite make out.

"Well, as Damon here knows, with this baby I come back from the dead." John said, still smirking.

"How do you two know each other?" Damon asked. "I mean, it's not like Rose would remember every single victim..." he smirked at the last part, leaning against the wooden doorframe.

"While Trevor and I were running from Klaus – this was only a few years ago – John found us. He offered to help us, and my sister. She had helped me and Trevor escape, and was condemned with us. Instead of giving us anything useful, he – he killed Charlotte. My sister. He drove a stake through her -" Rose cut off, erupting into sobs. After an awkward few moments, she looked up again, this time glaring at John.

"And so I killed him. He was my last victim. I drank his blood,and left him to _die_." She walked forward as she spoke, until she was only inches away on her last word.

"Apparently, it didn't work. But John's stubborn. That little ring of yours can be ripped off as easily as your finger." Rose smiled. It was terrifying, and she bared her teeth, fangs coming down. John stumbled a few steps back, looking to the Salvatores for help. As Rose lunged for him, Stefan flashed behind her and grabbed her shoulders to pull her back. Rose, having more than one thousand years on him, easily broke his grip and grabbed John, who wasn't fast enough in his retreat. Her left hand yanked his head back by his hair and her right held his shoulder still as Rose snarled and leaned down to bite his neck. She was almost unaware of the futile attempts at Stefan and Damon pulling her off, and moaned in pleasure as the taste of warm, blood filled her mouth.

"Stefan!" Damon yelled, trying to get his brother's attention.

"Stefan, stop!" he yelled again, grabbing Stefan's arm.

"He's got his ring on!" Damon pulled Stefan away, stepping in front of him.

Calming down, Stefan nodded slowly.

Rose enjoyed John's pain – she drank as slowly as possible, prolonging his death. John went limp under her, and she pulled back. With her enhanced hearing, she heard the final _thump... thump..._ of his heartbeat and smirked. Once his heart had stopped completely, she slowly lifted his right hand where his ring was. A cold hand closed around hers as she was about to pull it off, and she looked up quickly to see Damon smirking.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He whispered in her ear, slowly moving in front of John, who was now on the ground and _dead_. Whilst his brother provided a distraction, Stefan quickly picked up the corpse and ran upstairs to the spare bedroom. Quickly depositing him on the bed, he went back downstairs to help his brother. As soon as Stefan opened the bedroom door, someone smashed into him. He staggered back from the force of the impact, but quickly lunged forward to stop whoever was trying to get in the room.

"Hey!" Damon yelled, easily pushing Stefan out of the way. He looked up at his brother, realising that it was just that – his brother.

"Where's Rose?" he asked. Damon jerked a thumb back behind him.

"Downstairs. I had to bring the wood, but..."

"You _killed _her?" Stefan nearly shouted.

"I wish I did..." When Damon saw his brother's expression, he stopped and laughed.

"I'm just joking; you need to lighten up a little. She's not dead... Just temporarily incapacitated – and damn, it took a lot. Did you know that she's older than _Katherine_? Older than most of the vampires in the tomb, too – I had to put her downstairs." Damon gave Stefan a meaningful look at _downstairs_, meaning the basement. Slowly, his younger brother nodded and stepped back to let Damon enter.

"So what do we do about him?" he gestured at John, who lay unmoving on the bed.

"We wait until he...comes back? Okay, _wakes up_." Stefan seemed unsure of how to say that John would wake up from death.

"Oh _brilliant _plan – we'll just leave him here for Rose to kill." Damon smiled.

"Oh... right. Uh, where could we take him?"

"Aw come on... Can't we just let the bastard _really _die? This temporary stuff isn't satisfying enough." Stefan glared at Damon after he said this, and he sighed.

"I don't know. Where the heck does he live, anyway?" Damon wondered aloud.

"Uh..." Stefan frowned. "Well, he's obviously not staying in Elena's house anymore so... Maybe we can ask Elena?"

"Wow. You're really not very bright, are you?" Damon joked. "She's already all worked up about Rose helping us, do you think it will make her feel more secure if we tell her that Rose is trying to kill her father?" Stefan let out an exasperated sigh.

"What do you suggest we do, then?" he asked.

"Hell, you know what, let's just ask Jenna." Damon sighed too.

"Don't you think it'll be a little weird if we're asking where John lives...?" Stefan muttered.

"Nope." Damon said, popping the _p_. Stefan rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Whatever." He said. "When he's gone, uh, let Rose out, will you?" Without waiting for his response, Stefan left. Grinding his teeth, Damon reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He dialled Elena's house number and waited for Jenna to pick up.


	4. Bloodshed

**Fourth chapter! Hooray! Really happy with the feedback for this story.. :) Faz is not allowed to read this.****

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Chapter Four

As soon as school was over, Elena decided to head over to the boarding house. Jeremy was already sitting in the passenger seat of her car, headphones on and music blasting.

"Jer?" Elena said, pulling her door closed. He didn't hear her, and she reached forward to pull his headphones off.

"Hey – Jeremy!" she said. "I'm stopping by the boarding house. You okay with that?"

Jeremy shrugged and mumbled something along the lines of '_whatever_', putting his headphones back on. Elena rolled her eyes and started her car, slowly moving forward through the crowded car park. Once she was free of the people standing around, she got on the main road and drove in the direction of the boarding house. On her way, she vaguely noticed that the road was nearly empty, but kept driving anyways.

As they finally approached the boarding house, Jeremy took off his headphones.

"Why do you need to stop by here? If you're going to be a while..." he trailed off.

"No, it'll be quick. Hey you know what? You should head home. Tell Jenna I'll be home soon." Elena assured him, stopping the car. She left the engine on, getting out at Jeremy's quiet _'yeah, sure' _and shutting her door behind her.

"Bye, Jer!" she called. He got out too, walked around the front of the car, and got in the driver's seat. Elena didn't look back to see if her brother had gone, instead she continued on up to the front door, which opened before she could knock. Damon stood there, smirking.

"Hello, Elena." He said, draping an arm over the door. "How can I help you?"

"Is Stefan here?" Elena asked, looking over Damon's shoulder.

"No, he left a little while ago." He answered. Without further speech, Elena ducked under Damon's arm and marched into the large living room, not facing Damon who she knew was behind her. Elena was bursting inside – she needed to tell him that she hadn't forgotten what he'd said.

"Damon," she exhaled, turning to face him. She stopped when she saw his face. His eyes seemed knowing, as if he expected what she was about to say. Behind that, Damon looked...Sad. The only time Elena had ever seen him like that was the previous night, when he'd admitted his feelings for her.

"I..." Could she do it? Would she be able to tell him? If he found out that Elena knew that he loved her, would Elena be able to act the same around him?

"I want to say thank you," Elena said instead. "For helping Stefan to rescue me yesterday."

"Is that all?" Damon said flatly.

"Yes," Elena sighed, feeling guilty.

"Ok then. You're welcome."

**. . .**

Stefan waited until the nurse had left, and continued down the hospital hallway. The floors were clean and grey, even duller with the lights switched off. He ghosted past rooms with sleeping patients, heading towards another wing of the hospital. Earlier, Stefan had gone around and 'tampered with' all the security cameras – there was no worry that anyone would see him. He reached his destination easily, and flashed right up to the security guard waiting by the door. Stefan looked deep into his eyes, catching his attention.

"You won't remember me being here at all. You've had a normal evening, no disruptions, and the amount of blood hasn't decreased." Stefan put force into his words, willing the security guard to listen and do what he commanded. The security guard's eyes were huge and frozen. He nodded slowly and slowly lifted his hand and uncurled his shaking fingers. In his palm was a small brass key on a ring.

Stefan snarled, knowing that the compulsion hadn't worked. He'd never asked for the key. He grabbed the security guard by his neck and slammed him against the wall, rattling the notice board. Before the guard could cry out, Stefan sunk his fangs into his neck, feeding greedily at the flowing blood pulsing through his veins.

_He's drank vervain..._Stefan thought. _I can't make him forget this._ Instead of stopping, he continued to drink the human's blood, ignoring his groans of pain.

_I have to kill him,_ a voice whispered inside of Stefan. _So that he won't tell anyone..._ He didn't need any more convincing – he released the man and wiped the blood off of his mouth, before reaching down and biting harder, a low growl escaping his lips.

This time, the force of his attack snapped the human's neck easily and killed him. Satisfied, Stefan dropped the corpse lazily and stepped back. He left the body lying there in the hallway, blood splattered all around it. After a second, he realised his mistake.

_Stupid, stupid! _He thought, doubling over in a coughing fit. He cried out in pain as the vervain spread through his system. He had drunk from the human out of rage, and had stupidly not thought of the fact that the _reason _Stefan had gotten mad was because of the vervain in the human. He clutched his stomach, collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Stefan barely managed to crawl away – he had ingested so much vervain that he couldn't stand, and couldn't stop coughing. He kept going, though, seeing the exit at the end of the hallway.

"Do you hear that?" a distant voice said. Hearing footsteps, Stefan managed to stand and stagger to the doors.

"Yeah," another voice replied. "Sounds like coughing." The footsteps got louder, and the two women's voices got louder. Panicking, Stefan finally burst through the doors and out into the cold, night air. It was already dark, and there weren't many people around. A few cars passed, and Stefan stumbled down the sidewalk. A firm hand suddenly gripped his arm, pulling him up against the building in the shadows.

"What the hell were you thinking?" a voice hissed. "People might see you out here!" Stefan blinked a few times before his hazy eyes saw Rose standing in front of him.

"I..." he trailed off.

"Never mind," she looked at him with disgust. "Come on." She supported him by his right arm, dragging him forward.

"How much vervain did you drink?" Rose frowned.

"A lot..." Stefan said hoarsely, gasping in breaths. Sighing, Rose put her arm around Stefan's shoulders and lifted him slightly, ghosting off around the building, trying to make sure Stefan didn't crash into anything. They made it to the forest, finally, and Rose set Stefan down against a tree. He coughed and spluttered.

"You'd better explain yourself." Rose said. "I thought you didn't kill humans?"

"I've changed." Stefan rasped in reply.

"Oh?" Rose raised an eyebrow. "And Elena knows about this?" His eyes widened in panic.

"So she doesn't," Rose continued. "I'll just go tell her, then..."

"No, no please," Stefan begged, coughing. "It was a mistake!"

"You better sort yourself out," Rose's eyes narrowed. "I won't tell her, I'll leave that to you, but if you try to her, or her friends, you'll be the enemy." She warned before disappearing, leaving Stefan.

**. . .**

Business at the Mystic Grill – nicknamed the Grill – was slow, and only a few people sat in tables and up at the bar. Damon spotted Jules sitting at the bar alone, toying with a small cell phone.

"Is that her?" Alaric murmured beside him. Damon nodded slightly, and signalled for him to go. Alaric Saltzman nodded as well and strode over to the bar, taking a seat next to Jules.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he grinned foolishly, starting his act.

"I'm fine, thank you." Jules smiled slightly.

"Aw, come on," Alaric whined. "Just one." Jules sighed.

"Alright."

Alaric waved to the man working at the bar, who brought them two small glasses of some sort of alcohol.

"So you're new in town," he said.

"How'd you know?" Jules smiled.

"I've never seen you here before." Alaric replied quickly. Damon found his cue and walked up to the bar, taking a seat on the other side of Jules.

"Is this man bothering you?" he asked innocently.

"I'm not _bothering _anyone!" Alaric insisted.

"He's sort of the town drunk," Damon said quietly, getting Jules to turn her back on Alaric.

"When we get tired of her," he said. "We just put him in a taxi and send him off to some other town." Behind Jules, Alaric had taken some wolfspane from his pocket and poured some into Jules' drink, quietly stirring it and putting the wolfspane away again. Damon saw and lifted his drink, grinning.

"Cheers?" he said. Jules kept smiling, and lifted her drink to clink against Damon's. He drank, but Jules put her glass back on the table.

"Just one drink," Damon pleaded jokingly. "Won't do any harm."

"Okay," Jules sighed. "One drink." She lifted her glass again, brought it to her lips, and stopped. Her nostrils flared ever so slightly, indicating that she was smelling the drink. Jules glared at it and slammed it back on the table, a little bit of the drink spilling out.

"Do you think I'm _stupid_?" she laughed bitterly. "On a _full moon_..."

"Why are you looking for Mason Lockwood?" Damon demanded.

"Where is he?"

"He's _dead_, and you'll be too if you don't leave town."

"Are you threatening me?" Jules scoffed. "On a full moon. Really, how stupid are you?" Damon's eyes widened – he hadn't realised that it was a full moon. Jules stood up, glaring.

"You've been marked." She snapped. She stomped out of the Grill, leaving a very angry Damon.

"What the hell does she mean, _'you've been marked_'? Stupid wolf crap." He grumbled. Alaric grabbed his arm as he stood up.

"Don't go after her, Damon." He said. "It's a full moon, and apparently _one bite _can kill you. Just go home." Damon ground his teeth and walked out of the Grill, heading home.

**. . .**

"Caroline, it's a full moon."

"I know, Damon, I've looked outside." Caroline said through the phone. Damon stood at home with Rose – Stefan was still out somewhere – and was on the phone with Caroline Forbes.

"Idiot, what about the Lockwood kid? Tyler. Since we can't exactly kill him, someone needs to be on wolf-duty tonight. You know, make sure he doesn't run around killing people." Damon explained, annoyed.

"I'm with him now," she said in a quiet tone. Damon hung up, not bothering to reply. He dropped his cell phone lazily on the table, and turned to Rose. Before he could speak, the sound of shattering glass alerted him.

"What was that?" Rose demanded, looking around.

"I don't -" Damon was interrupted by more crashing noises. He ran to the fireplace and grabbed a sword from above it, on guard. Suddenly, a huge grey wolf loped into the living room out of nowhere, as fast as a vampire.

It leapt on Rose before she could react, biting and tearing at her chest. Rose screamed in pain, struggling under the wolf's weight. Damon ran forward and stuck the sword into the wolf, trying to force it off Rose. It wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he tried.

After a second or two, the large wolf slipped off Rose and disappeared, leaping towards the window. It shattered noisily and the wolf went through it, disappearing into the night. When Damon looked down to Rose, what he saw made his stomach lurch.

Where her heart was, there was a large open hole with blood splattered all around it. Inside, her heart was missing. Rose's skin shrivelled and her eyes glazed over, Damon gasped as her arms and legs curled closer to her torso and her eyes closed. Her screaming, Damon noticed, had stopped. What was left was just a corpse.

* * *

**Eww...Quite a bloody chapter! I had to kill Rose - I didn't want her to live with the wolf bite! Ah well...A little insight to Tyler and some Delena fluff next chapter. Don't worry, guys - I'm getting there!**

**LaLa.**


	5. Betrayal

**I know I promised more Delena in this chapter...But there won't be. Sorry! I promise, I'm getting there. Next chapter, 'kay? :) ENJOY!**

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* * *

******

When Stefan finally returned to the boarding house after healing and cleaning himself up, he found that Damon had a lot to show him.

His brother didn't question where Stefan had been, but instead launched straight into telling him what had happened. After the explaining, he showed Stefan Rose's body. At first, he'd blamed Damon for her death.

"Don't lie to me, Damon!" he yelled. "You killed her! You killed her because you thought -" Stefan was cut off abruptly when Damon slammed him up against the wall, snarling.

Before he could speak, Stefan pushed him off, finding his new strength to do this. Damon was bewildered, his eyes wide.

"How did you do that?" he demanded. Before Stefan could answer, he realised it himself, a grim smile spreading across his lips.

"Back on the good stuff, huh?" Damon said. "Have you killed anybody?" Stefan didn't speak, but looked down.

"I'll take that as a yes," a sudden thought popped into Damon's mind. "Does Elena know?" Stefan's head snapped up, glaring at Damon, who chuckled softly.

"You're in _big _trouble now, little brother. And I thought you were Saint Stefan..." he said. His smile disappeared, and his tone was lower.

"You know you can't control yourself like this. Remember the last time?" Damon warned. "Quit it."

"I can do whatever I want!" Stefan finally snarled.

"With or without Elena's knowledge?"

"This isn't about her!" Stefan spit. "This is me, making a decision to be like this!"

"Listen," Damon growled. "You better stay away from Elena. If you hurt her, I will _kill _you." Stefan yelled something that wasn't quite a word at his brother before disappearing.

At that same moment, the front door burst open. Damon rushed to it, expecting Stefan again. Instead, Elena hurried in. She saw Damon and froze, looking nervous.

"Oh, uh...Is Stefan here?" she asked, looking around frantically.

"No. Again, he left before you could catch him." Damon smirked. He became serious all of a sudden.

"I need to talk to you," he said, seeing Elena's eyes widen. He heard her heart beating faster and faster, confusing Damon.

"It's about...Are you okay?" he asked, frowning.

"Yeah, yeah," Elena replied quickly. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Stefan," Damon said slowly. "Has he been acting...different, lately?" Elena frowned in confusion.

"No, he's been pretty normal – aside from being worried about the whole curse thing." She said. "Why?"

"Elena, you need to stay away from him for a little while," Damon began.

"What?" Elena interrupted. "Why would I do that?"

"Because he's dangerous," Damon tried again. He didn't want to tell her too bluntly.

"_Dangerous?_" she laughed. "Are you okay, Damon?"

Fed up, Damon said loudly, "He's been drinking human blood!" Elena's laugh stopped dead, and her smile faded quickly. Her mouth hung slightly open and her eyes were wide.

"But...But I th-thought he..." Elena trailed off.

"I know." Damon said quietly, looking down at her. "But I'm serious; you need to stay away from him for a little while – just until I sort him out."

"Okay," Elena murmured, nodding to herself. "Okay, okay." She took a few steps past Damon, their shoulders brushing, and walked into the living room. As soon as she entered, Elena let out a shrill scream. Damon whirled around and rushed to wear she was, searching for danger. She screamed once more and put a hand over her mouth, staggering back.

Damon looked forward to see the source of her disgust and horror. Rose's mangled corpse still lay on the carpeted floor, covered in her own blood. Cursing under his breath, Damon grimaced as he lifted her body up into his arms and walked to the window.

_I'll deal with this later_, he thought to himself, dumping the corpse out of the smashed window.

"Elena -" Damon spun around, running in the direction she went Elena turned around when she heard him, she was standing in the hallway hunched over, hand still over her mouth.

"Oh, _God_..." she whispered. "What happened?"

"Werewolf." Damon murmured. "'You okay?" Elena nodded slightly.

"That was -"

"_Elena, look out!_" a high-pitched voice screeched. Before she could turn around, a huge brown wolf crashed into her, pinning her on the ground. Damon snarled and leapt at the wolf, prying it off the screaming Elena.

Another vampire leapt into the action, helping Damon to push the extremely strong wolf off. It was definitely a werewolf – but not Jules, she had been grey. Damon grabbed the old sword he had tossed to the side and plunged it into the werewolf, making it howl in pain and scramble back.

"Tyler!" Caroline screamed, running to the wolf's aid. She was the vampire that had helped Damon. Tyler Lockwood, in wolf form, was howling and struggling under Caroline, who held him down. She hastily grabbed out something that looked like wolfspane from her pocket and pried open the wolf's jaws, avoiding his teeth, and shoved it in.

She was obviously crying, tears streaming down her face. Damon looked away, focussing his attention on Elena, who still screamed in agony. Her left shoulder was covered in blood – _her _blood, and her clothes torn at that part. Her heartbeat was slowing, but she still screamed and beat her fist down on the floor next to her.

Damon ripped off her jacket to expose the bite; it stretched from the top of her shoulder down to her breast, bleeding at every part. The bite was too close to her heart – nearly piercing it. Damon held his breath to ignore his bloodlust, unsure of what to do. Closing his eyes, he thought of something, and bit into his wrist.

As soon as he felt the blood flow, he released his wrist and pressed it to Elena's gaping mouth before his small wound healed. She tried to raise her hand to stop him, but was too weak. Damon wasn't sure of his motives – to heal her with his blood, or to turn her into a vampire. Either way, he was trying to save her.

Elena woke up, gasping in breath.

All she remembered was burning pain all over her body, focussed in her left shoulder. Earlier memories flooded back – that night, Damon's warning about Stefan, and the wolf. Its attack had been so sudden; Elena thought she might have had a heart attack. But when the wolf had bitten her...She knew she would die. How could she survive that? But here she was with her eyes open, _alive_.

Blinking several times, Elena looked around. She lay in a large bed – significantly wider than her own – with soft silk sheets and _many _pillows. Looking around the room, she saw that the colour scheme was quite dark and modern – along with the furniture. Leaning against the wall in the corner of the room was a familiar face.

"Morning, sleepy-head," Damon smiled. "'You okay?" Elena took a deep breath.

"How did I survive that?" she asked. Damon shrugged.

"You were lucky." He lied. Elena couldn't sense it, but knew that she would have to be _extremely _lucky – and with all that had happened so far in her life, she knew she wasn't.

"I don't believe that." Elena narrowed her eyes.

"Well you should." Damon snapped, no emotion showing on his face. She saw what he was doing – pretending to turn it off, pretending that he couldn't feel. Elena knew better.

"Damon," her tone softened. "Tell me the truth." Damon opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Stefan bursting through the door. He rushed to Elena's side, ignoring Damon.

"I heard what happened – are you okay?" Elena flinched and backed off slightly, remembering Damon's warning. Stefan's eyes widened in shock – was Elena _afraid _of him? Angrily, he turned to Damon.

"Damon," he said in a strained voice. "We need to talk." He motioned to the door, and Damon followed him quickly through it into the living room. Elena couldn't hear whatever they said properly, but did catch a few yells.

"...Did this!" Stefan shouted.

"All I did," Damon relied coolly, "Was give her the truth – which _you _didn't." This gained a feral snarl, and a loud crash sounded. Alarmed, Elena jumped up, wincing as pain shot through her shoulder – it hadn't quite healed. Biting her lip, she managed to crawl off of the bed.

A spine-chilling growl filled the air, making Elena freeze. Now she wasn't so sure if she wanted to go into the hallway. Suddenly, a deafening cry of pain rang in her ears, and she ran forward. Elena pushed through the door and stopped immediately, watching the scene in horror.

Damon lay flat on the ground, his face twisted in agony. Stefan stood above him, turning at Elena's entrance. His eyes were wide, and his mouth curved in a snarl. The dark veins around his eyes were prominent and _terrifying. _His mouth was open, and Elena saw two long, delicate fangs that nearly pierced his lower lip.

His hand was curled as if he had been holding something, and Elena's eyes slowly went down to Damon again, and this time noticed something else. A makeshift wooden stake – looking more like a snapped-off chair leg – was lodged in Damon's upper stomach, below his heart. It wouldn't kill him unless it was left for too long, Elena knew. She distantly noticed that she was shaking, but couldn't move her feet.

"...Elena..." Damon croaked. "Run..." She felt tears come to her eyes. _How could Stefan have become this..._monster_?_ She thought. She gasped in a light breath, shaking her head slowly. Stefan shook his head in disgust, and abruptly disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Elena ran forward to Damon, letting her tears flow.

She put her hands around the stake, not sure if she could pull it out. Taking a deep breath, Elena yanked it out in a smooth, fluid motion, letting it clatter to the floor. Damon's body jolted with the movement, and he gasped in breath. The gaping hole in his torso seemed to get smaller quickly, healing. Its progress slowed suddenly, and Damon's breaths were louder and stressed.

Elena was breathing hard, too, unsure of what to do. Panicking, she looked around. Elena stood up and ran to a little table slightly down the hall, and flung open the drawers, rattling the whole table. She rummaged around the drawers until she found a little red pocketknife, and ran back to Damon. Biting her lip and distantly praying, she unfolded the small knife and put it to her wrist.

"No..." Damon managed weakly, raising his hand to stop her. But Elena didn't listen, and cut herself across her wrist, the blood flowing. Her hand shaking, she brought it to Damon's mouth, biting her lip harder to ignore the brief pain. With blood that close to him, Damon obviously couldn't resist, and leaned forward. He inhaled it for a second before sinking his fangs into Elena's wrist – all she felt was a small pinch. Elena closed her eyes, expecting pain.

But none came.

After a moment, she realised that it felt..._good_. It was an exotic pain that sent chills of pleasure through Elena. The thought that he _needed _her filled her mind, making her turn her head away in a little smile.

After only a few seconds, it started to get uncomfortable. Elena's smile faded, and she shifted in her position kneeling by Damon. As more short time passed, she found herself feeling weaker, and Damon's bite started to sting a little bit. Finally, when the time had nearly reached a minute, Elena couldn't take it anymore. She pulled her hand away, but Damon's cold grip wrapped around her arm, keeping it there.

"Damon, stop!" Elena said, trying to pull away. She knew that she hadn't been drinking vervain for a while, mostly because she felt safe with her vervain-filled necklace and bracelet.

"Damon!" Elena cried, unable to release his grip. Finally, her other shaking hand reached to her upper arm where her bracelet had slid, and, feeling horrible, pushed it down. It hit Damon's face which was buried in her wrist, and he yelled in pain, jumping back. The vervain left a red mark on his cheek, Elena noticed. He stood up straight, looking at Elena.

"Oh my God..." he murmured, expression softening. "Elena, I'm so sorry..." he trailed off; hurt by Elena's pained face. She stood and, clutching her wrist tightly, hurried out of the hallway and towards the door.

"Elena, wait!" Damon called. Hearing this, she _ran_, bursting through the door and outside the boarding house, heading for her car. It sat parked next to Damon's Ferrari, which glistened in the early morning rising sun. Elena's tears fell as she hastily unlocked her car and got in, shaking. She locked all the doors and put the keys in the ignition, sobbing.

She understood now what _both _of the Salvatore brothers were – she had always thought that they were in control; that they were harmless towards her. But looking back over the events of the night, she realised that she hadn't yet faced the truth that she knew: They were _vampires._ Killing, blood-sucking monsters who couldn't control themselves.

Elena started her car, heading home. She stubbornly hoped she would never see the Salvatore brothers again, but secretly she knew she'd never be able to stay away.

From Damon, at least.

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**:( Damon! Oh, poor Elena...**

**Don't worry, her anger won't last long.. (I hope)!.**

**Review! :D**


	6. Love

**Chapter six! Some Delena fluff, as promised. For Ibby, because she asked. ;]**

**And a huge thanks to all the feedback I got! **

Damon beat his head against the wall once more, increasing the dent and crack. He had tried calling Elena multiple times – even her home number. Never had she picked up, and Damon had considered going to her in person...but he couldn't face her. He couldn't bear to see her disgust and horror. All she'd been trying to do was save him, but Damon had nearly killed her.

_What kind of thank you is that_? He thought bitterly. _Idiot, idiot! _

Hating himself wouldn't accomplish anything, and so he decided to man-up and go to Elena himself.

Stefan hadn't returned, and Damon honestly didn't think he would. He stepped away from the wall and grabbed his keys from his pocket before racing outside. The sun had finally risen after a long night of action and blood, and his eyesight was slightly weakened. He got to his car, acknowledging the absence of Elena's car.

Sighing, he swung his car door shut and started the Ferrari in the same motion, pulling out of the boarding house's driveway. He drove down the long, winding path through the thin forest and onto the main road, heading towards the Gilberts' house.

Elena slammed the door shut behind her and trudged upstairs, ignoring Jenna completely.

"Hey!" Jenna called. "Elena?"

"Don't want to talk about it!" Elena yelled in reply, opening her bedroom door. She walked in, sighing and dumping her bag on the ground. Frowning, she noticed that it was colder in her bedroom than in the rest of the house. Shrugging lightly, Elena kicked her door closed as Jenna was about to step in.

"Elena!" she pounded on the door.

"Not now, Jenna!" Elena called, walking up to her door and twisting the lock. It was about five o'clock in the morning, she noticed as she walked up to her desk. She ran her hands through her hair, facing the mirror. She stared at her own reflection.

Elena wore a thin, light brown sweater over a white T-shirt and jeans. She had kicked her shoes off at the door downstairs, and her jacket lay in a heap by the door. Her long, dark brown hair _was _tied up neatly in a ponytail, but most of it had come down already. Sighing again, Elena turned around.

Gasping slightly, she noticed someone sitting on her bed.

"Get out." She snapped through clenched teeth.

"That night," Damon murmured, ignoring her. "You didn't forget what I told you, did you?"

Elena didn't answer, but stood with her hand on her chair, looking away.

"And yet you never told me," he continued, looking into her eyes. "I'm so, sorry, Elena. It wasn't like me to do that...But you have to understand – I was _dying_. When you offered me your blood...I could use self-preservation as an excuse, but that's not completely true. I wasn't thinking right, being selfish." Damon paused, waiting for Elena to say something – _anything._ When she didn't, he continued.

"You saved my life – and of course I thank you," he said. "But _why_? Why did you help me like that?" He gazed deep into her eyes, and Elena had to look away. She felt the tears welling, and she tried to look at anything and everything in the room apart from Damon. She was bursting inside to tell him how she felt – what could she be afraid of, if she knew that he felt the same? But she knew that she still loved Stefan – the old Stefan.

"Because no matter how I feel about Stefan," she murmured, tears streaming. "I love you." Her eyes met Damon's, blurred by tears.

_I love you._

_I love you._

The words echoed in her head, and she managed a weak smile.

Within a second she was pulled into his arms, in a sweet embrace. He held her tightly, and Elena could swear she saw a glint of tears in his eyes, too.

After a few seconds, Damon pulled back, and Elena took a deep breath, knowing that he was rejecting her. All her hatred for him had vanished as quickly as it had come, and now she just..._understood._

Instead of stepping away, Damon leaned forward again, and slowly brought his face closer to Elena's. Their lips met in a soft kiss, arms still around each other. Elena closed her eyes, and didn't protest. Inside, she _wanted _this. She loved Damon. Joyously she repeated these words over and over in her head, happy to know that he felt exactly the same.

After what seemed like years – but was really only nearly an hour – they stopped, Elena exhausted from the events of that night.

Later, though she was too embarrassed to admit it, she fell asleep in Damon's arms.

**. . .**

Jeremy didn't know what Elena was doing, but he knew that he needed to go to school – _now_. Jenna had told him that Elena had locked her door and wouldn't answer, and so his Aunt had decided to wait a little while. Nearly two hours had passed, and she still wouldn't respond.

"Elena!" Jeremy called, pounding on the door. "Come _on_! At least give me your car keys!"

No response.

"Elena!" he yelled again, then paused. "Elena?"

Still, no reply. Grumbling, Jeremy rushed into his room and walked into the bathroom, where he tried to open the bathroom door that lead to her bedroom. This door was locked, too.

"Elena! What the hell are you doing in there?" he shouted, knocking on the door with white knuckles. Finally, he gave up, and dug into his jeans pocket for change. He found a little coin and crouched by the lock. It was easy to open, he just had to but the coin on the lock and twist it in the right direction..._Left...No. Right...Yes._

The lock clicked and the door opened a crack, allowing Jeremy to see that the lights were on. He stood up and pushed open the door, looking around. Elena's jacket was lazily discarded on a chair by the door, and her bag next to it. On the bed, Elena herself lay sound asleep over the covers. Jeremy looked around once more, expecting Stefan to be the one keeping her. He wasn't there, though. Shrugging, Jeremy walked over to Elena and shook her shoulder.

"Elena." She grunted in response, eyes closed. "Elena! Wake up! You have to go to school! You know? That place you go to every day? It's Friday, last day of the week...!" Elena, obviously exhausted, woke up – well, she was still half asleep.

"...Jer...Just go..." _Yawn._ "Without me." And she went back to sleep again. Sighing and shaking his head, Jeremy noticed her car keys on her bedside table. He quietly picked them up and exited through the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He hurried downstairs, grabbing his backpack as he passed through his room, and caught Jenna in the kitchen.

"Uh, Elena's not feeling well," he lied. "She can't go to school today." Jeremy left before he'd do anything to give away his lie, and ran out of the house, calling a 'bye' at a grumpy Jenna. As soon as he was outside, he hopped in Elena's car and started it, suddenly remembering something.

It was Friday. On Fridays, Elena drove Bonnie and Caroline to school. Groaning, Jeremy dumped his bag by his feet and drove down the street instead of straight to school, turning to the right on a detour to pick up...Whichever one of Elena's friends that lived on this street. He stopped in front of the last house where he saw Bonnie waiting, and honked, rolling down his window.

"Where's Elena?" she called, walking towards the car.

"Uh, she's sick today." Jeremy replied as Bonnie got in the passenger seat. She dumped her bag by her feet and looked at Jeremy with a puzzled expression.

"Ok, well not really. She was up all night last night...I think she was over at Stefan's. She's exhausted – I let her sleep." He admitted, driving down the road.

"Hey, uh, Bonnie?"

"Yes?"

"Where does Caroline live?"

**. . .**

Caroline Forbes had been trying to call Elena's mobile all morning, but still she had no reply. She was panicking and worrying for her best friend – after all, she had been bitten by a _werewolf_!

_Does that mean she'll turn into one, too? _Caroline thought. She shook away that idea, and tried Stefan's mobile number again.

No response.

Next, she grudgingly tried to call Damon.

"Yes?" he answered in a tired, annoyed tone.

"Damon, is Elena okay?" Caroline demanded.

"Yes, she's fine. Just tired. She won't be going to school today." Damon said.

"Oh and where's Stefan?"

Damon paused.

"Damon?" Caroline checked that he was still there.

"Yes, right here. Meet me at the boarding house after school; tell Alaric, Jeremy, and your little witchy-friend to come too." He said quietly.

"Bonnie," Caroline corrected. "It's Bonnie. Yes, okay." She hung up, grabbing her bag and heading downstairs.

"Bye mom!" she called, heading outside as she heard a car approaching.

"Hey, Caroline?" Liz Forbes caught her at the door.

"Yep?" she smiled.

"I want you to be careful. Don't go out to late, okay? There's been another murder." Caroline's face drained of colour, and her smile quickly faded.

"Okay." She nodded, leaving. Outside, Elena's little silver car was waiting, honking.

"Coming!" Caroline called, running out to the car. She hopped in the backseat, dumping her bag on the seat next to her.

She looked up front and noticed that Jeremy was driving - even though it was expected, it was kind of awkward.

"Jeremy, is Elena okay?" Caroline checked.

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine." He replied. "Just...sleeping."

"Oh, and Damon wants us all to meet him at the boarding house later...I think it's about Stefan." She said.

"Stefan?"Jeremy frowned, driving. "What could be wrong with Stefan?" Bonnie shrugged.

"We'll see." She said.

**. . .**

"Good morning. Glad to see you've _finally _woken up."

Elena yawned and managed to sit up, stretching.

"What?" she yawned again, and her words didn't quite come out right. She cleared her throat.

"What?" she repeated.

"I said, good morning. Or should I say, good afternoon. It's nearly one o'clock, you've missed the whole morning." Damon smiled, sitting on the edge of her bed. Elena jumped up.

"Wait...It's Friday – oh crap! I missed school!" she bit her lip, looking for her clock anxiously.

"Relax, you're brother's covering for you." Damon couldn't help but grin at Elena's worried face.

"Jeremy?" Elena frowned. "Oh, crud, I was meant to pick up Caroline and Bonnie today!"

"Crud?" Damon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and Caroline and our witchy-friend also know. They're meeting me at the boarding house once they get out of nursery...Hey!" Elena had lightly smacked him on the shoulder.

"It's called high school!" she laughed. "We're not babies." Damon nodded, his eyes wide with obviously fake belief.

"Yes," he grinned, still nodding. This gained another fake-punch. Damon put on a hurt expression, feigning pain. Elena laughed, still beaming.

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked.

"Anything. I just want to forget everything that's been going on. Just for today." Elena closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Hmm..." Damon considered. A sudden thought popped to his mind. "Anything, huh?"

**. . .**

"Oh come on, let me see!" Elena protested, trying to pry off Damon's hand. It covered her eyes, blinding her to wherever he led her. After a long, boring car ride with Elena blind-folded most of the time, they had finally stopped.

"You wanted to take your mind off things. I know a place where you've done that before." Damon murmured, removing his hand and placing it gently in Elena's. She took it, smiling. She looked forward and saw...

A bar.

A small-town bar which reminded her of The Grill back in Mystic Falls. It was quite empty around – most people were at school or work. Elena quickly recognised the little bar.

She remembered her car crash – an unpleasant memory. Something had made her skid and flip on the road, and Damon had come to her rescue, somehow knowing where she was. He had brought her to this bar in Georgia, planning to get her mind off the danger and tension back in Mystic Falls – and here they were again.

Elena laughed.

It was a completely random, bubbly laugh that erupted from her lips. She squeezed Damon's hands and followed him inside, looking around the familiar place. The floor creaked and was pale wood, matching the white walls that were covered in old posters and pictures. It wasn't very crowded apart from a few people sitting at tables and couple clusters of people sitting at the bar. Damon led Elena to sit up at the bar.

"Uh, Damon, don't you think they'll notice that I'm underage?" Elena whispered, looking around for the bartender.

"Relax," he replied quietly, smiling. "They don't care." As he said that, a tall, dark-skinned woman finally approached them.

"Damon Salvatore…" she smiled. Damon's eyes were wide open, and he was frozen in shock.

"Missed, me huh?" Elena recognized her as Bree, a witch who had met them before the last time they were here. She was _also _the vampire who had lead Lexie's ex-boyfriend to Damon to kill him. Elena was shocked, too – usually after an encounter with Damon, and almost getting him killed, someone would probably leave town.

"Bree. How…?" Damon trailed off as Bree smirked and lifted her left hand; on it she wore a large black and silver ring which a small picture of a silver eagle on it. Elena recognized it as the same ring that Alaric and Jeremy had. It meant that she could come back to life after she died…And if the answer to Damon's shock was that she had a ring to keep her _alive_…

"Did you _kill _her?" Elena whispered. Damon clenched his fists and didn't answer.

"Elena, let's go." He stood up.

"Damon?" Elena said, standing to try and get his attention. "_Did you kill her?_" He still didn't answer, and Elena had to half run, half walk to keep up with him as he stormed out of the bar. He got in the car, and Elena hurried to follow him.

"Damon!" she cried, barely closing her door before Damon started the car.

"Yes, okay?" he snapped, slamming his door closed. "I killed her, okay? She told Lee – her ex – that I was here. She handed me over to my death!"

"That didn't mean you had to kill her!" Elena protested.

"Back then, it did," Damon said. "I killed _every day_. But we both know that I've changed." He insisted.

_I hope so._ Elena thought.

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**Um, sorry about that - I wanted to write more but I had to kind of cut it off there...Hope it suffices! :) **

**Review, please! :D**


	7. Return

**Thanks for the reviews! :) Here's a calmer chapter (just get past the beginning...) with some more Delena. Ok, now I feel like a weather presenter...How about you just read? :)****

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******

Chapter Seven

The drive back to Mystic Falls was silent.

Elena didn't want to talk to Damon – after a few minutes of trying to get her to understand, he gave up, nonspeaking on the long journey home. Elena hadn't tried to talk to him yet – she was afraid of getting him angry – but just sat still and quietly in the passenger seat of Damon's Ferrari, watching the scenery fly by. Her hair blew behind her and the wind whistled in her ears. In the chilly November air, the cold wind made it worse, and Elena shivered despite her warm grey jumper. Damon glanced over at her – as she noticed in the corner of her eye – but didn't say or do anything else.

Finally, Elena sighed impatiently and turned on the radio – they were close enough that it was a local Mystic Falls radio station. Elena leaned back, closing her eyes. A soft, quiet song played on the radio, seeming to go on forever. When it did stop, however, the news came on.

"...Report _another _murder!" Elena tuned in, turning up the volume. "Sarah Weldon, fifteen, was found dead in the beginning of Fell's Creek, just off Wilbury Street..."

"_Oh, my God!_" Elena cried, gasping as they mentioned Sarah. She was a few years younger than Elena, and a year younger than Jeremy. She was still a kid, in Elena's eyes. She lived on a small road just around the corner from the Gilberts, and so naturally they knew her and her family. In a small town like Mystic Falls, she knew almost everyone close to her age.

As Elena cried this out, Damon jumped and the Ferrari swerved slightly before he regained control of the wheel, steadying the fast-moving car.

"What?" Damon said, looking at her instead of the road.

"Eyes on the road!" Elena commanded half-heartedly.

"What happened, Elena?" Damon asked, his tone serious.

"The...The radio. Oh, God – Sarah Weldon, she lives – _lived _– near me. She's only fifteen – just a kid! Oh my God, oh my God... Damon, she's _dead_." She burst, talking quickly before listening to the radio again.

"...was found in Fell's Creek just this morning, and the police have said that the freezing water was not the cause of death. It seems to be some sort of animal attack, and following was yet another death, this one of a security guard in Mystic Falls Hospital, quite late at night. It looks like the same animal, and police have been sent out to try and find it, but no one knows where to look – these kills were _in _the town, which is quite unusual for an animal attack..."

The radio presenter went on to say more, but Elena put her hands over her ears. It was starting to get dark, and she wrapped her arms around herself. She noticed Damon slowly turning off the radio, not looking away from the road.

"Elena -"

"Was it you?" Elena demanded, cutting him off. Damon sighed and looked at her, and she thought she saw a flash of pain in his eyes.

"Yes. But Elena -"

"You...I thought you'd changed! I thought you wouldn't – kill – anyone anymore..." she trailed off.

"Elena -"

"And did you _have _to go through all that trouble to kill that security guard? They only put security guards by the doors, and the blood bank – why would you kill him?" Elena said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Elena, it was _Stefan_!" Damon finally got in.

"And – wait, _what_?" Elena gasped.

"I killed Sarah," he barely remembered her name. "Because I was angry. But I didn't kill that guy – I was with you when they said it happened."

"Well...Well m-maybe it was Rose." Elena sounded as if she was trying to convince herself. Damon shook his head slowly.

"I'm sorry, Elena." He murmured. Elena ducked her head down and hugged her knees to herself, sobbing quietly.

_Oh Stefan_, she thought. _Why? Why did you have to do this? _

**. . .**

As they pulled up in front of the boarding house, Elena realised that she had been leaning against Damon. Her tears had stopped, but she sat there silent until they had arrived. Sometime near the end of the journey, Damon had put his arm around her for comfort – and honestly, Elena felt _safe_, despite the fact that he'd just admitted that he'd killed someone. The Ferrari's engine stopped, everything was silent. Damon sat with her in the darkness, waiting. Elena wasn't speaking or making any move to get out.

"Elena -"

"Finally!" A voice called, stepping out of the shadow of the boarding house.

"Where were you?" Caroline demanded, putting her hands on her hips. Bonnie followed after her, as well as Jeremy hovering protectively behind the young witch.

Caroline, with her new vampire sight, saw Elena through the darkness, her eyes wet with tears and leaning against Damon. Her face was pained. Caroline rushed over to Elena, sending a quick glare at Damon.

"Elena!" she cried. "Are you -" she turned to Damon "- Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine." Elena spoke, her expression hardening. She sat up, obviously trying to be brave. She opened her door and got out, not looking at anyone as she hurried inside the boarding house. Everyone followed, Caroline and Bonnie exchanging worried glances. Jeremy frowned, obviously believing – stupidly – that his sister was ok. The four of them walked into the boarding house, saying not a word. Inside, Elena was sitting on the couch, her gaze wandering around the large room.

Alaric Saltzman, who hadn't gone outside, was sitting on another couch, leaning forward and twisting his ring. His dark brown, spiky hair had grown and now nearly touched his eyes. Hi eyebrows were lighter brown and bushy, above short eyebrows and small brown eyes. His mouth was fixed in a hard line, and his gaze followed Damon as he entered. Over his muscular build, he wore a casual blue shirt with buttons and jeans. On his feet were black hiking boots. Alaric stood with his arms folded across his chest, his stance relaxed and tired.

"Alright," he sighed. "Why are we here?"

"And where's Stefan?" Caroline added.

"We're here _because _of Stefan. He's back on human blood again." Damon explained.

"_What?_" Bonnie finally said something. "_Again_?"

"Yes," Damon replied calmly. "But he's worse this time – he's killed someone." Instead of an outburst, this gained silence from everyone in the room. Elena didn't move, but instead stared off at nothing, obviously trying to ignore what Damon was saying.

"Who?" Alaric said serenely.

"A security guard...At the blood bank." Damon told him quietly. "It's been classified as an animal attack – police are out searching."

"Don't forget to mention the other death." Elena said in a dull voice that showed she wasn't really paying attention.

"What other death?" Jeremy asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Sarah Weldon." Elena replied quietly, her face blank. Jeremy didn't seem to know her.

"She was just a kid." Elena murmured.

"Did Stefan kill her, too?" Bonnie asked, her voice shaking slightly. Damon glanced over at her. Her hair was dark brown – almost black – and fell in curls down to her mid-back. Her jaw line was prominent and her large nose beautiful in contrast to her small mouth. Bonnie was small for a seventeen-year old, with dark skin and vibrant green eyes.

"No," Damon answered her, staring blankly into her eyes. "I did." Bonnie glared at Damon, and stepped forward before Jeremy could stop her. She looked deeper into Damon's eyes, and sent out her power.  
"Ah!" Damon cried out, staggering back. Agony flooded through him, and he felt as if his brain was exploding – which was quite close to what Bonnie was doing. It was the aneurism trick she'd learnt. It _literally _burst the veins inside a vampire's head, not killing them, but giving them severe pain. If done to a human, it would kill them, but a vampire could heal quickly.

"Stop!" Elena cried, jumping up and running to Bonnie. She didn't stop, however.

"I thought you said he'd changed!" Bonnie yelled, taking another step towards Damon's writhing body.

"Please, Bonnie," Elena begged. "Please, stop!" When she didn't, Elena closed the remaining distance between them in a run and pushed Bonnie, who stumbled into Jeremy's arms. Damon stopped his groans of pain, and Elena spun around to see him get up off the ground, holding his head.

"Damon, are you okay?" she asked, helping him to the couch. Alaric wasn't leaning sitting anymore, sometime during Damon's pain, he had jumped up.

"I think," Caroline said slowly. "That we'd better leave." She touched Bonnie's shoulder, who was glaring at Damon and Elena. She stood up, scowling, and stormed out of the boarding house before anyone could say anything. Caroline smiled at Elena apologetically, and followed out the door after Jeremy. Alaric stayed, however.

"You need to find your brother," he faced Damon. "And get him under control again. If he hurts any more people, I won't hesitate to rid this town of the problem." After saying this, Alaric left abruptly; not looking back at Elena and Damon's shocked faces.

**. . .**

Stefan snarled quietly – he had heard everything.

Elena had helped Damon _immediately_, and everyone had seemed scared of Stefan. And what Alaric said... Stefan had thought that they were _friends_. Or something close to that – allies, at the least. Now, Alaric was willing to kill him.

_Who cares? _Stefan thought. _He can't kill me. I'm stronger, faster..._He trailed off in his thoughts of feeling superior.

_Focus!_ He said mentally to himself. He'd set himself a goal tonight, one that he was confident – desperate – he would achieve. In his absence and change of..._diet_, Elena and Damon had spent more time together. And Stefan had heard her quiet mental expressions of desperation to help Damon when he was hurt...Looking through the window, Stefan noticed that they were now _hugging_.

He growled, and strangely felt tears come to his eyes, which were focussed on Elena. For a second, she saw him. She stared into his eyes for a few seconds, before looking away. Stefan backed up from the window of the boarding house, not wanting to see anymore. His objective was set: He would kill Damon.

**. . .**

"I'm so sorry," Damon whispered. He held Elena close in a tender embrace, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I forgive you." Elena sighed, a smile in her voice. They pulled back from their hug, both smiling passionately. Damon quickly leaned in again, wrapping his arms gently around Elena. He kissed her on the lips, and waited for her to react. He was patient. But he didn't have to wait at all; Elena quickly had her arms wound around his neck. They stood like this, kissing passionately, for...Well, a long time. At some point, they stumbled into Damon's huge bedroom, and managed to get onto the bed. Like that morning, they just lay there with each other.

Later, Elena found herself, fully clothed, lying in Damon's bed, gazing at him. He was the same – except his shirt had disappeared and his pale, muscular chest was bare. His dark, wavy hair didn't cover his blue eyes. They were inches apart, just...looking. Damon's fingers traced the different bones in Elena's face in a cool caress.

"What are we going to do about Stefan?" she whispered.

"We'll figure that out later. But for now, just live in the moment." Damon replied quietly.

"Alright." Elena sighed, smiling. "Oh, and Damon?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

**. . .**

"We're going to have to tell them..." Elena said, resting her chin in her hands. She sat with Damon in the kitchen, while he – tried to – make her breakfast.

"Hmm?" Damon said. "Who?"

"You know – Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy..." Elena trailed off.

"I'm not sure they'd..._support _us." Damon replied quietly.

"Yes!" he suddenly cried out in triumph. He turned to face Elena, and held out a porcelain plate with – miraculously – unburned scrambled eggs.

"Ha," Elena laughed. "Well done. Oh, and what do you mean?" Damon put the plate down in front of her, along with a fork and...Spoon?

"Well let's see..." he pretended to think. "No one seems to like me." He flashed his dazzling smile.

"Who cares?" Elena smiled, too, putting some scrambled egg on her fork. She brought it close to her eyes and examined it closely.

"What, you don't trust my cooking?" Damon said.

"No," Elena giggled. "This is your first time."

"Well I have done _amazingly_, you've got to agree." He laughed. Elena finally ate some eggs, and nearly spat them out as she laughed. Covering her mouth with a hand, she showed him a thumbs-up. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Who's that?" Elena wondered aloud, swallowing the tasteless eggs. She followed Damon to the door, her smile remaining. When he opened it, however, ever hint of joy drained from her face. Instead, she was horrified.

"Hello, Elena," Elijah greeted them. "Damon." Damon looked just as bewildered as she did. Wasn't Elijah _dead?_

The two stood there, speechless.

"I've come to offer you a deal."

* * *

**Yaay! Elijah's back! Ok, I'm probably the only one celebrating...Don't worry, it's not the same deal from the show...Please review :]**


	8. Fear

**Watched _Know Thy Enemy_ (02x17) twice today - and I admit, I cried. I'm actually one of the few people that loves John and Isobel now.**

**SPOILERSPOLIERSPOLEIR:**

**It's a shame Isobel's dead. :( **

**And also, POOR MATT AND LIZ! **

**Enough with my stupid author's note - read on! :)**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

"How...You're meant to be _dead!_" Damon said; his eyes wide.

"Well, technically, I am. So are you." Elijah replied simply.

"But I killed you!" Damon yelled, his voice shaking slightly.

"Yes, it was quite an unpleasant experience, thank you." Elijah's expression darkened.

"What kind of deal?" Elena asked, speaking up.

"Another way to break the curse." He replied quickly. Elena shook her head slowly, her eyes not leaving Elijah.

"I don't want to break the curse at _all_." She said in a low voice.

"There is no way to escape Klaus – it's a wonder he hasn't come yet. But he will, and there won't be any way to avoid what he has planned for you." Elijah warned with a frightening tone.

"Then we'll kill him." Damon said through his teeth, grimacing.

"Like you killed me?" Elijah laughed bitterly. "You won't stand a chance."

"Well I don't think I trust you." Damon snapped. "So you can get the hell out of here."

"You're making a mistake." Elijah warned, stopping the door with his hand before Damon could slam it closed.

"Oh, I don't think I am." He said, closing the door in Elijah's face. Elena looked at Damon closely as he walked passed her and saw different emotions playing across his face. Shock, anger, frustration, exhaustion, and unexpectedly, _fear_.

_Damon's never afraid of _anything, Elena thought, fear starting to creep into her mind as well. She hurried to follow him into the living room, frowning in confusion as he abruptly exited the room and checked all the other rooms on the ground floor.

"Damon?"

"Yes?" he replied, stepping out of the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked, looking into the kitchen. There seemed to be nothing strange or out of place.  
"Just checking." Damon murmured. "Oh, and where's Jenna?"

**. . .**

"Jenna?" Elena called again, not expecting an answer. None came, of course. "Where could she be?" she said this do Damon, who reclined on _her _couch lazily, watching _her _TV.

"Relax," he said. "She's probably out somewhere, you know, like a _normal _day."

"She hasn't picked up her mobile." Elena notified him, waving her own phone in the air.

"Maybe she's busy." Damon suggested.

"But there's nothing going on for her today, no appointments or meetings, no reason for her to turn off her phone or ignore it..."

"Relax." Damon repeated. "I'm sure she's fine."

"Yeah, but Damon, what if she's _not?_" Elena said, her tone rising. "What if Elijah or someone has gotten to her and we just dismissed her disappearance as '_she's busy' _?" Damon rolled his eyes almost unnoticeably. Elena was _really _overreacting now.

"Elena," he said calmly. "You're overreacting a little bit." She sighed and bit her lip, turning towards Damon. She ran a hand through her long dark brown hair and sat on the other couch, facing Damon.

"I know." She murmured. "But with Elijah coming back..." she trailed off, sighing again.

_Yeah_. Damon thought. _I know how you feel. Hell, even I'm freaked about it. I _killed _him, and so it's not such a great experience to know that he can just pop back into existence. _He knew Elena couldn't hear him, and so he felt stupid for talking – well, mentally talking – to himself.

"Don't worry." Damon assured her. "Everything will be fine." As the words slipped out of his mind, he regretted them. He knew that it wasn't true – More bad things were coming. If Elijah, an _Original_, could find them, how long would it take Klaus himself to find Elena? And what if he already knew where she was and had sent Elijah?

Questions were flying through Damon's reeling, worried mind, but he smiled faintly to cover any traces of that from appearing on his face as Elena studied it from across the room.

_Everything will be fine_. He projected this thought to Elena telepathically – another vampire trick – and watched as her eyes widened in astonishment. Stefan had never had enough Power to do that before.

_How can you be sure? _She thought back, unsure if Damon could here. But he could.

_I'm...Not. _He didn't lie to her._ But the odds are that no one – Klaus – will find you here._ Elena wanted to believe that – she wanted to think that her friends and family were safe and that everything _was _fine – but it wasn't.

**. . .**

"Hi, Mrs Lockwood, is Tyler home?" Caroline asked, smiling warmly at Carol Lockwood, Tyler's mother. She stood in the doorway of the Lockwood's mansion.

"Sorry," Carol smiled. "You just missed him – he went off to the Grill to meet with some friends." Her expression darkened. "He's been really upset lately," she continued. "He won't tell me what's happened. Do you know anything about it?"

"No, I had no idea," Caroline lied smoothly. "I guess I'll ask him about that. Thanks, Mrs Lockwood."

"That's no problem, Caroline." She replied cheerfully, closing the door as Caroline walked away. As soon as it was shut, she turned around and practically glided to the back of the house where she looked up to see French doors on a little balcony leading into Tyler's bedroom.

Caroline knew that Mrs Lockwood was lying – as a vampire, she could tell.

Taking a deep breath, she crouched and jumped, springing up. She flew upwards and landed softly on Tyler's balcony, not making a sound. She opened the doors quietly as well, going inside and shutting them behind her.

In the bathroom next-door she heard a tap turn off and quick, heavy footsteps getting closer. She stood silently in the corner of the room, waiting for Tyler to enter. When he did, he didn't notice her, and sat on his wide bed, opening some sort of old journal. It was nearly filled with unfamiliar writing, and Tyler was reading, not writing in it.

"Tyler?" Caroline murmured. He jumped up and spun around, facing Caroline. He relaxed slightly when he saw her.

"Oh, Caroline. You scared me." He muttered, sitting down slowly. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you. I'm sorry I haven't come since...since the full moon, and I know you're going through a tough time..."

"I could have killed her, Caroline." Tyler murmured grimly. "Elena. I – I lost control, and I _attacked _her...I nearly killed her." His eyes drifted down to his side where Caroline knew a bandage probably was from his stab wound when he was a wolf and Damon had tried to kill him.

"But you didn't!" Caroline smiled faintly. "She's fine, up and healthy as a horse."

"But what about next time, huh? Next full moon, if I get loose again, who knows who I might attack? And what if no one's there to stop me?" Tyler said, his voice shaking slightly.

"Tyler, it's my fault, I was meant to be looking after you, but those chains weren't -"

"Oh, don't blame yourself." He said bitterly. "You _know _that_ I _did it." He looked at Caroline. "I don't want this. I hate it – knowing that when in my most dangerous state, I can't control myself. I just wish...I wish that my family had never had that damned curse in the first place!"

"I know, Tyler, I know. But next time, I _promise_ that I'll be there for you, I won't let you hurt anyone." Caroline said, feeling tears come to her eyes.

"But that's the thing: I could hurt _you_. And it would be worse – Elena survived, but you wouldn't have. If I hurt you..." Tyler trailed off, looking away.

"No, you won't." Caroline said firmly, tears streaming.

"If I got out last time, I probably will this coming full moon. And who knows who I'll attack? I – I don't...I don't want you to..." he trailed off, sighing.

"What, Tyler?" Caroline prompted him.

"I don't want you to be around me next time. It's not safe for you." He admitted.

"I'll be fine!" Caroline insisted. "But I _will _be there. I won't make you go through that alone."

"Whatever." Tyler shook his head, obviously hiding something.

"What is it, Tyler?" Caroline asked softly.

"I – nothing. Another time, okay?" he said, not meaning to tell her. Understanding, she nodded and smiled faintly to him.

"Okay," she whispered. "Just call me if you need _anything_, okay? And please don't be worried about Elena – she's fine." Caroline nodded to herself again and waited for Tyler's response – a quick, half-hearted nod – before leaving.

**. . .**

A day that had been planned to be fun had turned out as a boring, long little meeting with Alaric, Caroline, and Jeremy. Damon and Elena had been back at Elena's house doing...something, while Caroline came late after visiting Tyler.

They talked about Stefan and what they would do – and they decided to do nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. If Stefan ever posed a threat to them or killed another person, they would take action, but for now they didn't try to find him. It was later that day, already night, and she was going home.

Bonnie froze as she heard a twig snap behind her.

It could've been anything – a small animal, the wind, or maybe _she _had stepped on it. The noise scared her anyway and put her on alert. Since earlier when she had been talking about what they should do about Stefan, Bonnie had been on alert and frightened by the slightest of shocks.

Bonnie had just gotten out of Elena's car – that Alaric was driving – and had definitely seen it drive away, still carrying Caroline and Jeremy. Alaric was driving because he was the adult, although the others could drive, and he was dropping off everyone before returning the car to Elena's house.

Bonnie, without turning around, quickened her pace across the front yard. It felt like the thin path was getting longer and longer, and she found herself in a run as she heard a rustling behind her. Once up on her front porch, she dared to look back.

Nothing. She had been overreacting. There was nothing unusual – it was the same pretty front yard with the straight path up to the porch and the flowers growing in neat, symmetrical patches. The white fence and the hedge were undisturbed aside from the slight rustling from the wind.

The front gate was closed as Bonnie had left it, and all else seemed normal.

And then she took in the smaller details: In a small part of a colourful flower patch, a few yellow dandelions had been trampled on. Bonnie frowned in confusion, and dropped her bag on the bench on the porch, creeping out to the flowers.

She crouched next to them, so absorbed in her discovery, and examined it closer. It was a footprint – a wide, long boot mark that crushed several small flowers. Studying it more, she assumed that it was a man or boy's shoe because it was so wide and long.

_Snap_. Bonnie's head whipped up. She jumped up out of her crouching position, looking around. She'd heard a twig snap – _Hold on,_ she thought. _There are no twigs in the yard...There aren't any trees, and the wind couldn't have brought it all the way over here_.

Irrationally, fear gripped her and she ran up to the porch, nearly tripping as she reached down to grab hold of her bag and stumbled to the front door.

Suddenly, in her moment of panic, she heard another footstep, and creaking wood. Bonnie gasped and felt her heart rate accelerate even more, this time spinning around and barely managing to focus.

She saw nothing still, but this time reached out to see with her Power. With her mind, Bonnie searched the area, frantically looking around with her own eyes as well.

With her eyes, she saw nothing unusual as before, but with her Powers, Bonnie was terrified as she saw strange, unnatural shadows dancing and moving around the area. _No_ – as she concentrated more, she sensed only one presence other than her own.

Whoever was there was moving too fast for her to see. Nearly hyperventilating, Bonnie lunged for the closed front door, her eyes focussed on the yard.

Suddenly, it all stopped and she crashed into something – no, some_one_. Bonnie screamed for half a second before a cold hand covered her mouth. Stefan Salvatore's face came level with hers, his face calm.

"Bonnie, calm down," he murmured. "It's just me." Slowly, he pulled his hand back. Bonnie was panting, but her shriek had ended.

"You...You..." she panted, her breathing coming faster and faster. "I..." Bonnie couldn't manage any more, and in a desperate attempt jumped forward and pounded on the door.

"Please!" she cried. "Mom? Dad? Let me in!" she yelled as loud as she could before doubling over and gasping for breath.

"Bonnie?" Stefan asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Get away from me!" Bonnie shrieked.

"Bon -" Stefan stopped abruptly, studying her face for a moment. He seemed to realise something and he snarled, his mouth dropping open and his fangs extending. Bonnie screamed again and tried to focus her energy, but couldn't manage to summon her powers in self-defence.

Stefan grabbed her before she could move away and thrust her head back, exposing her neck. Bonnie had never really believed in God, but at that moment, she sent out a silent prayer to whoever was listening.

"Bonnie?" someone said, freezing Stefan.

The door opened.

* * *

**I wanted to write more, but there were no points that I could immediately continue from...**

**Ignore that ^^ It's just Lauren-Ramble - I'm too tired to write more. Hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review! ;]**


	9. Enemies

**Hey people! :) Thanks for the reviews, and here's the next chaptaaa!**

**Did you know that I was actually considering naming this chapter 'WAZUMA'? I don't know what got into me...**

**ENJOY! :D**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

"Bonnie, just breathe, okay?" Elena clutched her cell phone to her ear, calming Bonnie through the phone. Yes, Bonnie. Cool, calm, and reasonable Bonnie.

"Oh...I – I – was," she stopped, taking a deep breath. "I saw Stefan and – and I -"

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Elena demanded, anger bubbling up inside."

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little...freaked. Okay, terrified." Bonnie admitted, calming down.

"Did he say anything?"

"Nothing important. He acted like nothing had happened, like he hadn't done anything wrong. Then he realised that I knew...and he tried to b-bite me," Bonnie stopped, expecting an outburst from Elena. When none came, she continued.

"My dad opened the door and Stefan was gone."

"That's it?" Elena asked gravely.

"That's it." Bonnie confirmed.

"Okay," Elena breathed. "Just be careful, okay? You're drinking vervain, right?"

"Yes."

"Good." She nodded. "Well, take care, Bonnie. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Elena." Bonnie said in a clipped tone, hanging up quickly. Elena frowned, pulling her phone away from her ear slowly. She closed it and slipped it carefully into her pocket, sighing.

"What do we do about Stefan?" She asked Damon as he entered the room. Elena stood in the living room of her house, her arms folded across her chest. Jeremy was upstairs doing 'homework' while Jenna was still not in the house.

Damon sauntered over to the couch and lazily slumped down, stretching his legs out across the length of the sofa. Elena faced him, annoyed.

"Same as last time," he yawned. "Stop him and wait for him to feel bad about himself again."

"Damon, we have to be serious! This is _Stefan_. We need some sort of plan." Elena insisted, now putting her hands on her hips.

"I've got it covered, don't worry," Damon smiled faintly.

"Good," Elena said quietly. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

**. . .**

Finding Stefan was actually harder than Damon would have thought.

He had started at Bonnie's house and tried to track Stefan, but his careless trail had faded despite his carelessness at being 'sneaky'.

"Where could you be, little brother?" he murmured to himself.

"Stefan is at the Mystic Grill." A voice said behind Damon. He whirled around and masked a shocked face with a smirk. Elijah stood a few metres behind him, his head tilted slightly to the right and his arms hanging loosely by his sides.  
"And how would you know that?" Damon asked, hiding a slight fear.

"Because I saw him." Elijah replied simply.

"Oh?" Damon raised an eyebrow, stepping forward. "And what exactly was he doing?" While talking, he used his mind to lightly probe the area for any of Elijah's little followers. He was slightly more comfortable to know that it was only this Original and himself in the dark alley.

"How should I know?" Elijah shrugged indifferently. "I only saw him enter, and that was about ten minutes ago."

"Well, thanks for the help." Damon said dryly, starting to walk away. Elijah hurried over to him and stopped him.

"One more thing," he said. "I seriously recommend that you reconsider myoffer."

"Nope." Damon said, quickly leaving before Elijah could say more. He was headed towards the Grill, where Stefan supposedly was. It could be a lie, but what was the harm in checking?

The street was busy with people as it was a warm, sunny day. Most people were sitting at tables outside and enjoying the good weather, whilst some teenagers were probably inside playing pool or trying to get a drink at the bar.

Damon entered wearing a serious expression, his eyes sweeping the Grill quickly. As he'd expected, Stefan wasn't there. A little frustrated, Damon sat down at the bar, waving the bartender away when he approached. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, again looking around. This time, he noticed something that he hadn't seen before – a back door. It was open just a crack, showing the faint glow of a streetlamp outside. With a little triumphant smile, Damon stood and strode over to the door, passing plenty of people sitting around. He caught fragments of a conversation from a table near the door.

"...He's still not back..."

"Wasn't he talking to that guy? Maybe..."

Damon reached the back door and gently pushed it open, carefully not making noise. He slipped outside and closed the door fully behind him. Outside it was already quite dark and the only light came from a weak, tall streetlamp. Damon stood in a little alleyway behind the Grill, pressing himself against a wall to hide in the shadows. He found what he was looking for crouched in a corner, leaning over an unmoving body splattered with crimson. He heard no heartbeat from the body and assumed that it was dead – killed by the vampire leaning over it.

Silently Damon pulled out a large syringe from his pocket, uncapping it slowly. He advanced on his oblivious brother, carefully staying hidden.

"_Boo_." He murmured softly, standing behind Stefan, who whirled around quickly.

"Wh -" He was cut off as Damon plunged the syringe into Stefan's throat. He choked and coughed, doubling over before sinking to the ground. Damon didn't smile, but instead with a grim expression leaned down and plucked out the little – now empty of its vervain contents – syringe from his brother and tossed it aside.

"Alright..." he muttered, crouching. He lifted up his brother and slung him easily over his shoulder, whistling quietly and tunelessly. He gave a last glance to Stefan's victim in the corner, and barely noticed a weak rise and fall of his chest. Frowning, Damon strained his hearing and stepped closer to hear a very faint, slow, heartbeat. He stood for a second, considering helping the man.

_He won't survive,_ he thought. _Even with my blood, he won't be able to pump it into his bloodstream. _

_But you have to at least _try_! _Another voice in his head insisted. _It's what Elena would want._ Damon ignored both and approached the man, still carrying an unconscious Stefan over his shoulder. He noticed that the man's eyes were barely open, and his breathing was quiet and slowing. Damon sighed and put a gentle booted foot on his chest and waited a moment, feeling waves of agony that the man was projecting in his mind. Without a second thought, Damon pushed as hard as he could on the chest, listening to the air _whoosh _out of the man's lungs.

He felt the hard heel of his boot crush the human's heart, making his face go red. He didn't even have time to cry out – he died within seconds.

_A mercy-killing,_ Damon thought. _To end his agony. _

Damon repeated this to himself as he walked away, leaving a dead body in the alleyway.

**. . .**

Elena smiled and quickly stood up at a knock at the door.

She was in the Salvatore boarding house waiting for Damon to return with Stefan, but was chatting with Bonnie online on her laptop because she felt alone. It was already dark, and it had taken Damon long enough. Elena bounded to the front door, opening the creaking wooden door. Unexpectedly, Damon wasn't standing there. Instead she was met by a familiar but dreaded face, and she automatically glared, hiding a slight fear. Elena tried to close the door, but the person outside stopped it by putting a hand on the only part that wasn't fully inside the house.

"Elena," Isobel greeted her, a dim smile on her face. "Can I come in?"

"No." Elena snapped, trying to push the door closed.

"Then let me at least speak to you." Her mother pleaded. As Elena couldn't close the door, she decided to listen to whatever the vampire had to say.

"Fine." She spit. "You have one minute."

"Elena, I know you hate me, and I know that you don't trust me, but I want to help you. I want to help keep you safe from Klaus, even if you don't believe it." Isobel said slowly, gauging Elena's expression.

"You're right. I _don't _trust you. But how do you think you could help me?" she replied sourly.

"I've found a way to kill Klaus, but for now all I want is for you to be safe – and not _here_." Isobel explained, her tone genuine. When Elena didn't respond, she continued.

"I've never much liked the Salvatores, but I trust them with your life. The only problem is that you keep coming here – a place where no human lives. Any vampire could easily come in, not to mention any other people working for Klaus. And staying at your own house is difficult, what with two others in the house that can invite people in – And considering that you don't even know what Klaus looks like, you won't know who to trust.

"I have a safe house where you can stay and it's under _your _name. No vampire has been invited in, not even me." Isobel finished, taking a deep breath. She tilted her head slightly to the right, her eyes focussed on her daughter.

"Why should I believe you?" Elena replied quietly.

"Because you don't have many options," Isobel murmured. "You think your boyfriend can save you? Or his brother? Neither of them are any match for what's coming. You can't run, and you sure as hell can't fight Klaus."

"We'll manage." Elena snapped.

Isobel shook her head sadly. "No, you won't. You may think you can, but you won't. Elena, you'll be safer if you accept my help!" she insisted.

"I don't want your help." Elena said quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Isobel smiled strangely. "I was hoping this would be easier."

"What?" Elena asked, confusion spreading across her face. With an apologetic smile, Isobel stepped quickly around her and inside, pushing the door shut. Before Elena could react, she felt Isobel's hand on the side of her jaw. Before she could even scream she felt her lower jaw slide from an incredibly strong force and a cold shudder passed through her.

Without another thought, she blacked out.

**. . .**

Damon entered the boarding house, still carrying Stefan.

"Elena?" he called, looking around. He waited for a reply, walking into another room. No one was around, but he saw her laptop on the table. Frowning, Damon set Stefan down on the floor and checked the screen. Elena had been chatting with Bonnie on a social network, and it was still open. Damon read their conversation.

_Elena: BRB someone's at the door_

_Bonnie: OK_

_Bonnie: Elena?_

_Bonnie: Hey, Elena r u there?_

_Bonnie: Elena? You didn't pick up your phone!_

Frowning, Damon closed the laptop and looked around, not seeing anything out of place.

"Elena?" he called again. The only response was an almost inaudible groan from Stefan, reminding Damon that he would wake up soon. He rushed to his brother and lifted him quickly, hurrying down the narrow stairs. He entered the hallway and pulled open the heavy iron door, lazily dumping Stefan on the hard concrete. Without another glance he slammed the door and bolted it before hurrying upstairs again.

"Elena!" Damon shouted, ghosting around the boarding house. When he both floors completely empty, he tried dialling her phone, but found it ringing in the living room.

"Damn it..." he muttered, hurrying outside. "Crap, crap, _crap_..." As a sudden idea came to him, Damon sprinted out the front door; barely managing to grab his car keys from where they sat by the door. He remotely unlocked his car and leapt over the doors, sliding into the front seat. As soon as the black Ferrari's engine started Damon was flying down the driveway, turning sharply to find the street he was looking for. When he did, he skidded to a stop in front of the third house, pulling out his phone and dialling a familiar number.

"Hello?" Bonnie answered.

"Open the door." Damon said, storming across Bonnie's front yard.

"What?"  
"Elena's gone – _open the door_."

Damon was met a few seconds later by Bonnie's surprised face at her door.

"What's going on?"

"I told Elena to wait at the boarding house, but when I came back she was gone. She left her phone." Damon explained quickly.

"Oh my Gosh...We were talking and..." Bonnie began.

"She said someone was at the door, I know." Damon cut her off. "I'm guessing whoever the visitor was, they took her."

"And you came to me?" Bonnie said suspiciously.

"Is there any witchy thing you can do to find her?" Damon suggested.

"Yes..." Bonnie's face lit up. "Yes, yes! Like the one I did only a few weeks ago!"

"Good. Call Jeremy, you're going to need him. Come on, we're going to Elena's house." Damon said, hurrying back to his car. After quickly grabbing something from her room, Bonnie was rushing outside to the car, carrying her ancient Grimoire. She got in the front seat next to Damon in his Ferrari and they were off before she could even close her door.

It took only a few minutes to arrive at the Gilberts' house and Damon pulled up as quickly as before, snapping at Bonnie to hurry up herself. They knocked impatiently on the door and were greeted by Jeremy.

"Damon? Bonnie? What's going on?" he said, stepping aside to let them in. "Where's Elena?"

"Jeremy you remember when I used your blood to find Elena?" Bonnie ignored his question, instead asking her own. "I need to do that again." Jeremy's eyes widened.

"What happened?" he asked, panic sprouting in his voice.

"Elena's gone. Someone turns up at the door and – _poof_." Damon answered him, following Bonnie into the living room. Jeremy came behind him, looking around for a map.

"So it works the same as last time?" he said, taking a folded map off of a shelf.

"Yes." Bonnie said, clearing a table. She looked at Damon. "Go get a knife."

"No need." He replied quickly, folding his arms across his chest. Jeremy sat beside Bonnie and spread the map out on the low coffee table, finding the Salvatore boarding house on the map. Damon quickly crouched down by the table and slid a short nail over Jeremy's outstretched finger, easily drawing blood. He ignored the scent and focussed on other things in the room.

"Ok, good, just let it drop there..." Bonnie was saying. She began to murmur quietly under her breath, holding a hand above the drop of blood. Damon's gaze was now focussed on the little bead of crimson, watching it slowly move. It trailed across the map until it stopped just outside of Mystic Falls. There weren't any roads near the spot.

"The middle of nowhere?" Damon scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Do you think...Do you think it was Klaus?" Bonnie whispered.

"Maybe." Damon admitted, dreading it himself. "Let's get going."

**. . .**

When Elena woke up, she was surrounded by darkness.

Opening her eyes, she felt cold air around her, and absently wondered where she was. The surface she sat on was hard but uneven, and...Dusty. She felt dirt and little rocks as she felt around her. She decided against calling out, and instead sat still for a moment, trying to see. Her eyes didn't adjust though, and she felt terror growing inside of her. Elena had always hated the dark, and now it was all around her. She felt a hard, rocky surface on her back and used it to help herself stand, pressing against the wall.

She took deep, quiet breaths, but they sounded loud in...Wherever she was. After thinking about what she felt, she assumed that she was in a cave. Still, she didn't panic. Sure, she was a little afraid of the dark, but she felt oddly calm. And a little sleepy..._No! _Elena snapped her eyes open before they could drift fully shut. She had to stay awake. Now that she was standing, Elena felt along the wall, taking small, shuffling steps.

"I suppose you'd like a little light in here?" a voice said, making Elena jump. She pressed herself harder against the cave wall, looking around.

"Who's there?" she said bravely, needing her eyes to be able to see.

"Oh, that's not too important right now." The voice answered. Elena could _hear _the smile in his voice. Yes, _his_. It definitely sounded like a man.

"Who are you?" she demanded, stopping her shuffling.

"Ah, ah, ah," the voice teased. "You don't get to know that one."

"Where am I?" Elena tried, sinking to the floor.

"As you've probably noticed, underground." The voice answered simply. She didn't reply, but instead waited for a short while, not thinking.  
"What do you want?" she asked quietly. Suddenly, she felt hot breath on her face and the voice was now in her ear.

"A lot of things," he whispered. Elena swallowed but didn't move. "Mostly you, dear Elena..."

Her calm broke. Elena found herself leaping away to the left, bolting upright. Her memories came crashing down on her.

Isobel. Was this mysterious person Isobel? No, it was a man.

She realised the total helplessness of her situation, and _really _began to panic.

_I'm in a freaking cave_, she thought to herself. _I have no idea where I am, or who the hell is in the cave with me. No one knows where I am_. In utter terror, Elena felt the urge to scream, but she held it back.

"Are you with Isobel?" she whispered hoarsely.

"No, Isobel was only my method of your delivery." The man's voice answered, sounding close.

"My 'delivery'?" Elena quoted him.

"Yes. I told her to bring you to me, and so she did." He spoke to her as if she were a child.

"Who _are _you?" Elena asked again.

"Hmm. I suppose there's no harm in telling you." He sighed. She noticed he had a strange accent that Elena couldn't quite place.

"Well you already know my name." she swallowed.

"Why yes, I do, Elena." The man said cheerfully. "Alright then. You may call me Klaus."

* * *

**After such epic recent episodes, I felt like I should hurry up and introduce Klaus...well here he is! Except Elena can't see him! o.O**

**:O This is the longest chapter so far! **

**Please review! :)**


	10. Klaus

**So I'm sure a lot of you (VD) books fans have already heard, but just in case you were oblivious, L J Smith was fired from writing her own books. Just because she wanted Delena and other amazing ideas. **

**Wanting to prove this, I searched the web and found an email from her to a fan, addressing _all _her fans. She talked about her ideas - which were amazing! - and how now a ghostwriter will be continuing her books. The truth is, Alloy Entertainment always owned the idea, but L J Smith wrote every single word of the Vampire Diaries. **

**Her email nearly made me cry. It's so sad and unfair that a great writer like herself should be stopped from writing her own series. I've found the email of Alloy Entertainment's Publicist and I will be emailing them shortly to give them a piece of my mind. **

**If any of you want to, here's the email I found on their website : **

**Sorry for the long A/N, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Elena froze.

She stopped breathing and sat as still as possible, her eyes wide.

_Klaus..._ All this time she had been preparing for him, worrying about his arrival – and now she was with him.

_I guess all this time I've come to believe that Klaus wasn't real_, she thought. _At least...At least my friends and family are safe._ Elena felt a tear in her eye and held it back, promising herself not to cry. But she wanted to – so badly. She never even got to say goodbye. _And now I'm going to die here, _she thought miserably. But surely her friends had noticed her absence by now? All she could do was hope.

_But if they do come to save you, in a battle against Klaus, not everyone will survive. _Elena countered.

"It seems that I have frightened you..." Klaus murmured. He laughed bitterly. "Good. I'm glad you have the sense to be afraid."

Elena didn't reply, but stayed completely still, now taking slow, quiet breaths. She didn't want to say anything – she had nothing to say.

"Fine then," Klaus laughed. "Don't speak." There was silence. Elena had never been so _helpless_. That was the only word she could come up with to describe where she was. Elena felt blind, deaf, and helpless.

Finally, her strange exhaustion caught up to her and she allowed herself to close her heavy eyelids.

_Just for a minute...Just a minute..._she thought, before drifting off to a deep sleep.

**. . .**

"We're coming." Bonnie said stubbornly. Jeremy nodded in the back seat behind her, folding his arms across his chest.

"No, you're not. You'll get in the way, and I won't be able to protect you both." Damon snapped, stopping the Ferrari.

"I have my ring!" Jeremy protested, waving his right hand.

"And I can take care of myself." Bonnie glared, reminding Damon of her little aneurism trick.

"Firstly, do you know how _easy _it is for a vampire to take that ring off?" he said to Jeremy. With a quick, blurred movement he slid the ring off of Jeremy's finger and held it up.

"And secondly, your powers are _no match _for the Originals." He pointed to Bonnie before tossing the ring back to Jeremy, who barely caught it.

"Well you can't go alone!" Bonnie complained. "You'll die trying to save Elena – then who will we have to help us?" Damon raised an eyebrow, and she blushed quickly, looking away.

"I'm not going alone." He said, gesturing to the apartment block he had stopped in front of. "Jeremy, go run inside and get your favourite uncle Johnny. Bonnie, call Alaric." The two nodded, Jeremy hopping out of the car and Bonnie pulling out her cell phone.

"'Ric?"She said. "Hey, we need help..." she explained their situation, telling him where to meet them. Within a few minutes Alaric Saltzman had pulled up in his old pickup truck next to them.

"Where are we heading?" he called out his window.

"Elena's just outside of Mystic Falls – follow us." Damon said loudly. He grimaced as John and Jeremy approached.

"John, you can ride with Alaric." He smirked as Ric glared at him. John nodded, getting into the passenger seat of Alaric's truck, dumping his large duffel bag in the back seat. As soon as Jeremy's door was closed, Damon sped off.

**. . .**

"Bonnie, I swear, if that spell was wrong..." Damon grumbled, pacing the large field angrily.

Bonnie's spell had led them to a huge, grassy field a few miles away from Mystic Falls. There was no sign of anyone around – except a few grazing cows. There was no sign of any buildings or houses, and Elena didn't seem to be hiding in the trees. After Jeremy's loud calling, Damon was fed up.

"No, it wasn't." Bonnie insisted confidently.

"Is there any way that it _could _have been wrong?" Alaric said softly. "Maybe you said the wrong words, or..."

"_It wasn't wrong, okay_?" Bonnie yelled. "Elena is somewhere _here_!" Everyone was silent for a moment, no one wanting to upset her more.

Except John – Jackass – Gilbert.

"Well she doesn't seem to be sitting on clouds," he said sarcastically. "And I don't see any caves around here... Got any ideas? You _are _the physic one."

"Look," Bonnie fumed. "I -"

"Looking." John interrupted, miming searching around.

"The spell worked, okay? Maybe she's...underground." Bonnie said. Jeremy automatically looked around, but spotted no cavern entrances. He didn't think there _were _caves in a place like this: farmland.

"The entrance could be miles away." Alaric said quietly.

"Does anyone know the area?" Damon asked, looking around at everyone. Not a single head nodded.

"Well I guess -" Jeremy cut off, stopping his slow walk. His eyes widened and he brought his foot down, testing the ground below him.

"What is it?" Alaric asked, walking over to him. Jeremy was now on his knees feeling around the spot.

"It's hollow!" he grinned triumphantly. He banged his fist against the grass and smiled wider.

"Get that open." Damon ordered, signalling for Alaric to follow him. They hurried over to Ric's truck and pulled out the black duffel bag, unzipping it.

"Wow..." Damon breathed, taking in the many, _many _vampire-killing weapons Alaric had in the bag. Alaric took his own weapon from the front seat – a tall pointy stick. Really, it was a long, pointed spear with a very sharp point made of what looked like wood _and _iron. There were two hand-sized grooves and a silver point at the other end. Along the length of the spear there were strange carvings in the wood and a few Chinese characters.

Alaric noticed him staring and held it out for him to see.

"The points are covered in vervain." He said, lightly touching the top point. "And wolfspane." He pointed to the silver end. Damon nodded in admiration, picking up the black duffel bag and carrying it over to where Jeremy and John were fumbling with the hollow patch.

"Take your pick." Damon smiled, pulling out his own weapon. It was a black teak-wood dagger with a thin, dangerously sharp point and a strong handle. It was attached to a leather wrist strap that Damon used to conceal the dagger under his sleeve.

"I can't open it." Jeremy sighed in defeat. Alaric quickly stepped forward and positioned his spear over the hollow patch before bringing it down on the ground. The sound of wood snapping filled their ears as Ric's spear pierced the wooden layer and went down into a space underneath. He did this again and again until Jeremy and John could break off large pieces and clear a way in.

Bonnie had been standing away from it all, eyeing the bag of weapons. Damon noticed this and smirked.

"You can take one, you know." He said, pulling out a few random little knives. Bonnie nodded slowly and reached in, pulling out something at random. Damon stifled a laugh – it was the smallest weapon in there. A simple, short wooden knife. Her cheeks reddening, Bonnie quickly walked away and waited for everyone else to take theirs.

"Alright. So who wants to go first?" John asked. Everyone automatically looked to Damon, the vampire.

"Okay, fine." He said, putting his hands up. He went over to the wide hole in the ground and stared down into darkness. Without another word he stepped into it, falling for only a second. After another second, his eyes adjusted and he managed to barely see the outline of the tunnel he stood in. The walls were rocky and the ground dusty – as they suspected, it was a cave.

"You guys can come down!" Damon called up to the humans standing above.

The next to jump down was Alaric, followed by John, then Jeremy, and finally Bonnie.

"I can't see anything!" she yelled – earning a loud _shh_ from everyone around her. "Sorry." She murmured. A light flicked on, and everyone looked to Alaric, who held a large industrial flashlight.

"Let's get going." Damon said quietly, starting to walk down the tunnel. Everyone quickly followed, not wanting to get separated in the darkness.

**. . .**

In her dream, Elena saw Damon.

He was walking down a dark cave, followed by familiar faces. She recognised Alaric, Jeremy, Bonnie, and – her uncle John? Why was she dreaming about _him_?

The five walked slowly, Alaric holding a large light. Elena felt as if she were floating above them. "Hey, do we even know if we're going the right way?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes. I can sense her." Damon replied quietly. _Her...Oh no_. _No, no, no! _They were coming after Elena! As much as she wanted to see them, they _couldn't _come rescue her – Klaus would kill them!

In a surge of panic, Elena tried to find some way to contact them through her dream-self. She tried yelling and waving madly, but they couldn't see her.

_Maybe it's _just _a dream. _She thought. _Maybe they're not _really _coming to rescue you_. She should have felt happy that they weren't endangering themselves, but sadness remained in her. She was terrified – she _wanted _to be rescued.

_No_, she snapped at herself. _That's selfish._ Then, Elena had an idea. If what she was seeing was _real_, she would still be able to telepathically communicate with Damon, right? Weren't vampires telepathic? She decided to give it a shot, and concentrated on Damon.

_Damon! _She mentally yelled. To her surprise, he stopped walking, causing Bonnie to walk right into him.

_Elena? _He thought back. Elena smiled widely – it had worked!  
_Yes! _She replied.

_Where are you? _Damon asked, ignoring John asking why he'd stopped.

_I'm – Oh _no_. Damon, you can't come find me! You have to go back! _Elena cried – mentally.

_What? No way. Now tell me where you are – do you know? _

_No, but that's not important – you have to go back! _Klaus _is here! _She insisted. Damon's expression darkened and worry flashed on his handsome features.

"Damon, _what is it?_" Bonnie demanded.

_Elena don't worry, we're coming. I _promise _we'll get you out of here._

"Elena." Damon said quietly. "She just – spoke to me. Through her mind. I have no idea _how _she did it, but she told me..." he stopped, looking at everyone.

"What?" John snapped.

"She's with Klaus."

**. . .**

"_Klaus_?" John cried. "We're not prepared to fight an Original!"

"We have to." Damon said quietly.

"We _can't! _It's impossible!" John yelled. Damon glared at him furiously. _How could he not want to save his own daughter? _He thought.

"When I staked Elijah a few weeks ago, he stayed dead for a while. Maybe Klaus will stay dead long enough for us to get Elena out of here." Damon suggested, continuing to walk. John stopped him by putting a hand on his arm, but Damon easily shook him off.

"It's suicide." John snapped.

"So you wouldn't risk your own life for your daughter?" Damon said, his voice shaking slightly.

"I want to." John's tone softened. "But we can't. Not now. We aren't prepared."

"Well I'm going." Jeremy declared, followed by Bonnie's quick agreement.

"So am I." Alaric mumbled. Damon nodded in acknowledgement – it was clear that _he _was going.

"John?" Everyone looked at Elena's father, who stood his ground for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.

"You're crazy," he said. "But I guess we can still try." He smiled lightly and nodded, following Damon down through the cave.

**. . .**

When Elena awoke, she was in darkness yet again.

She hoped that her dream wasn't real – if Damon came to save her, Klaus would kill him. Alaric – he was tough and experienced, but Elena wouldn't let him die for her. Jeremy and Bonnie: _No_. Elena loved them too much for them to die on her.

She couldn't even think about Damon dying. It hurt to even mention it in her mind.

Elena began to shiver. She hadn't noticed it before in her sleepy state, but the cave she sat in was quite cold. As she managed to stand again, she noticed that her neck hurt from sleeping while sitting up. This time, she decided to be brave. Elena _hated _this cave – she wanted to see the light again. Taking a deep breath, she took a step forward, her arms out in front of her. She didn't bang into anyone, but was now not against any walls. Calmly, she took another step – and another. Her pace quickened and she kept walking before she hit something. She jumped in surprise but relaxed when she realised that it was another wall.

Elena took in another deep breath, inhaling through her nose and out through her mouth. She remembered something about that being calming. Maybe it was the other way..._Never mind_, she thought. She faced another direction and started walking again, her steps starting slow and quickening. She felt like a zombie with her aching arms outstretched and so she dropped them, walking confidently.

Then, she hit something else.

This 'something' definitely _wasn't _a wall. She tripped over something that she assumed was a rock and went tumbling into someone. She swore she heard a chuckle, but wasn't sure. As soon as she hit the person she leapt back, landing on her back on the hard ground. She winced from the pain, scrambling back. This time she was sure she heard a laugh.

"Quite the little explorer, aren't you?" Klaus' voice came from where she'd just been. Elena didn't reply, but instead kept backing up quietly until she felt the wall against her back.

"So you don't feel like talking anymore," Klaus stated. "I suppose that's fair. You're probably terrified."

"I'm not afraid of you." Elena mumbled.

"What? I didn't quite catch that." Klaus said.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Elena yelled, her voice echoing through the cave. When Klaus replied, his voice seemed to be in her ear and she felt his warm breath on her face. She could hear his breaths.

"Aren't you?" he whispered. Elena sat completely still, trying to be brave. "You see, I think you're lying. Let's see what a little light will do for you..." Suddenly, Elena's vision was filled with light. She closed her eyes and covered them quickly to avoid being blinded by the sudden light and waited for a few seconds before uncovering her eyes and squinting against the light. Her eyes adjusted slowly, but she managed to see what she expected: a cave.

A large lantern illuminated the large space, and she looked around, not seeing any sign of Klaus. Sighing, she looked back to the space beside her – and someone was there. Elena gasped and jumped, her heart racing. This _had _to be Klaus.

He had long arms and legs and was quite handsome in total, with pronounced features and sunken cheeks. He had short, close-cropped platinum blonde hair matching pale skin. His eyes were almost unreal electric blue eyes that seemed to change colour in quick flashes –blue to silver. He wore a long, dusty tan coat and dark jeans underneath. He was smirking at Elena's terrified expression, and to scare her more he opened his mouth slightly, letting his razor sharp, long fangs descend.

Elena couldn't hold back a scream, and let it out, only managing a second of noise before Klaus bit her neck.

* * *

**I could barely finish that...After reading the email I didn't want to. But I did! :D Alerts, but no reviews on the last chapter. **

**Please Review! If not, Chapter Eleven might be too sad to come out... :)**


	11. Escape

**Crappy chapter name, I know...Couldn't think of anything else...! Any good ideas and I'll change it!;)**

**Okie Dokie (Did I really just write that?), so I'm going camping this weekend and so I won't be able to update even though I was planning to have a super-writing-marathon over the four-day weekend... And also I can't watch the Royal wedding! :P Ah well. **

**Longest chapter yet, right here!**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

Damon and his followers stopped abruptly, their ears ringing from the loud echo of a scream.

It had only lasted a second, but it was obvious that the screamer was terrified – not in pain, but just scared.

"Oh my _God_!" Bonnie cried. "What the _hell _was that?"

"Let's go." Damon said through clenched teeth, breaking into a run. The others quickly followed and the only noise was their quick footsteps against the rock floor and the pants of the humans. Damon sent out mental probes, searching for Elena. He sensed her again, and quickly made a sharp left turn into another passageway, the others barely managing to turn before crashing into a hard wall.

A few quiet cries of pain drifted to his ears, nearly inaudible to everyone else. Jeremy gasped slightly, but Damon couldn't tell if it was because he was tired or his shock at hearing the noises.

"Just up here!" Damon said loudly, slowing. He was stopped suddenly by a figure that stepped forward out of the shadows – a vampire. Her emerald eyes gleamed in Alaric's torchlight.

"Hello," she smiled, showing a full set of white teeth and retracted fangs. "I'm afraid you can't go this way. You can turn back now, or die." Her tone was pleasant, and she seemed no threat – wearing a dress, and all. She wore a simple black shift with sheer black striped tights. On her feet she wore clunky black boots with a small heel that were up to her knees. She looked about Damon's age and her features were delicate and childlike. She didn't look like she could harm a fly.

"Who are you?" Damon demanded.

"That's not important." The woman replied, her smile remaining.

"Well we want to continue, and I won't have any of your 'turn back now or die' crap." Damon spit, advancing towards her. She smiled.

"Don't say I didn't warn you..." she clearly murmured, before pulling out a wooden stake from a hidden pocket in her dress. Damon scoffed, unable to imagine her using it. He dived forward anyways, reaching to grab the stake...But she was faster. Within a second or two, Damon was laying flat on his back, the woman sitting on his stomach, holding the stake above his heart. She smiled wider, slowly and gently drawing the stake across his chest.

"Just stay here a moment," she giggled, thrusting the stake into Damon's chest. She didn't aim for his heart, but instead pierced his right lung, near his stomach. Damon roared out his pain and found that he couldn't get up. Alaric was first to take action – jumping in front of Bonnie and Jeremy, positioning his spear to fight. John quickly joined him with a crossbow.

"Petty little weapons." The woman laughed, plucking Alaric's spear away in a blur. He stepped back, bewildered. John fired a few arrows, but the vampire easily stepped aside and missed some, whilst others she caught cleanly and snapped, dropping the remains in a pile at her feet. The group was slowly retreating, leaving a wounded Damon.

As fast as a cobra striking, the woman reached behind Alaric and grabbed Jeremy, pulling him next to her. He was obviously terrified, but pulled out a wooden stake and tried to fight her off. It was no use – with a smile, the vampire grabbed Jeremy's stake mid-strike and spun it around, this time pushing it back to Jeremy. It stabbed into his heart, causing a cry of agony from him.

"_Jeremy_!" Bonnie screamed, trying to go towards him. Alaric stopped her, pushing her backwards and retreating himself. Bonnie quickly found something in her pocket and pressed it into Alaric's hand, and he nodded quickly before running up to the woman, raising a wooden dagger at the last minute. This time, distracted, the vampire wasn't able to dodge or block the strike, and staggered back as the dagger plunged into her heart. She coughed blood and a hysterical laugh bubbled out from her lips, her skin shrivelling and her eyes glassing over.

As soon as she hit the floor, everyone ran forward. Alaric hurried over to Damon, pulling the stake out. Damon gasped in a breath, panting. He muttered his thanks and managed barely to stand, approaching Jeremy. Bonnie was sobbing at his side.

"Relax...idiot..." Damon managed. "He's...got...his ring."

"He won't wake up for a few hours." Alaric said quietly.

"We can't take him with us," John added. "What do we do?"

And again, everyone looked to Damon.

**. . .**

Elena found that she couldn't scream any more, but was frozen, helpless to her torture.

She knew that vampire bites didn't have to hurt – there was only pain if the vampire intended for there to be. And hell, Klaus did.

The bite was excruciating and agonising, but the worst part was that Elena couldn't do _anything _about it. She felt as if her insides were roasting and her brain was exploding, and scream inwardly as she would, nothing changed.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Klaus pulled back, and Elena slumped forward, unable to make herself pass out. She breathed heavily and hard, a hand automatically shooting to her neck. She felt a sticky liquid there, and she dropped her shaking hand. Elena felt incredibly weak, and pain remained from the bite. She was shaking all over, although she didn't know where she got the energy to do that.

Before she could rest and regain strength, her throbbing head was forced up and Klaus pressed his wrist to her mouth, allowing her to drink his blood. Not concentrating, she allowed some of the liquid to enter her mouth and slip down her throat, immediately making her feel a little bit better.

When she looked up, Klaus was gone. Sighing in relief, she slowly crawled backwards until she felt the wall against her back, taking deep breaths. She felt _much _better now, as the vampire blood spread across her bloodstream. Feeling well enough, Elena slowly stood, her knees wobbling. The lantern was still on, giving Elena plenty of light. She looked around the room trying to find an exit, but found none. Frowning, she looked at the ceiling, but found no door either.

Finally, she checked the floor, to see if she could find some sort of trap door. Surely enough, a wide hatch was completely open at the far side of the cave room. Smiling faintly, Elena walked as quickly as she could – which was slowly – to the trapdoor, getting on her knees and peering down into the hole. She saw no one below, and felt a surge of triumph. There was a lit lantern in the room below her, as well. Taking deep, shaking breaths she climbed down a rusty iron ladder and making sure to stay quiet, even though her breaths and footsteps seemed incredibly loud in the confined space. Elena took the lantern from where it hung on the wall and proceeded down a long tunnel, always looking behind her, surprised that Klaus hadn't come after her yet. She took a few random turns, and found herself in a dark tunnel, her lantern being the only light.

_No! _Looking down the tunnel, she saw another faint light and quickly blew out the candle inside her lantern. She couldn't turn back now, and decided to push forward. As she got closer, she was the outline of a figure sitting with their back against the wall. Elena couldn't quite distinguish their features, but saw that it was a girl.

"Hello?" the girl whispered, terror in her voice. Elena recognised the voice immediately and nearly cried out with joy.

"Bonnie!" she whisper-yelled, running over to her best friend and hugging her tightly. Bonnie hugged her back, crying into Elena's shoulder.

"Elena!" she sobbed. "Oh, Elena!"

"Shh," Elena soothed her. "I'm right here."

"Is everyone else okay?" Bonnie asked, pulling back.

"...Everyone else?" Elena said questioningly. Bonnie's eyes widened.

"Damon, Alaric, and John went to find you! They told me to wait here with Jeremy." She said quickly.

"Jeremy!" Elena squealed, turning to look at the figure slumped next to Bonnie. She froze, her eyes wide. Jeremy wasn't breathing, and he had a wooden stake in his heart. Panicking, Elena grabbed his hands and checked, sighing in relief when she saw his ring.

"So where did Damon and the rest go?" Elena asked Bonnie.

"That way," Bonnie pointed the way Elena had come. "To find you."

"Well we need to get you out of here. And Jeremy." Elena said, not planning on leaving herself. Bonnie nodded, and the two lifted Jeremy, carrying him slowly down the hall.

"I can't believe that it was so easy," Elena breathed. "Escaping."

"Yeah..." Bonnie whispered. "Uh, we ran into a bit of trouble on the way – watch your feet." Confused, Elena looked down quickly, seeing a pile of snapped arrows and a bloodstain on the dusty floor. As they took a few more steps, Bonnie's flashlight revealed a vampire's dead body slumped against the wall, unmoving.

"What happened?" Elena breathed.

"We ran into trouble." Bonnie repeated slowly. "She did this to Jeremy." She nodded at the vampire. Elena and Bonnie continued down the tunnel, but froze when they hear a noise. From somewhere far down the hall, they heard snarls and growls, as if a bunch of wolves were fighting rather than vampires.

"Come on!" Elena said, breaking into a slight jog, still carrying half of Jeremy's weight. They saw the light that filtered in from a hole up to the surface and put Jeremy down.

"I'll boost you up." Elena whispered. Bonnie nodded, putting her flashlight down to give Elena some more light. She let Bonnie step on her hands and jump out, landing safely on the grass. Next, Elena picked up Jeremy – who weighed a _lot_ – and slowly brought him up towards Bonnie, who dragged him on to the grass.

"I'll be back soon!" Elena called up before snatching up the flashlight and Bonnie's dropped wooden dagger. Bonnie hung her head down the hole to look at her.

"What?" she cried. "Elena no...!" but Elena had already run down the tunnel, clutching the dagger to her chest and the flashlight in front of her.

**. . .**

They had finally run in to someone.

Damon, Alaric, and John had wandered into a wide cavern, searching for Elena. Damon could no longer sense Elena, but that luckily didn't mean she was dead.

As soon as they'd entered the cavern, they'd been met by a very angry vampire. He'd warned them to leave, but stubbornly, Damon had refused.

"Where's Elena?" he demanded. The vampire they'd just met smirked. Glaring, Damon rushed forward and put a hand around his neck, pushing him up against the wall. It only lasted a millisecond before the situation was reversed and Damon found himself against the wall. Alaric hurried forward and used his spear to stake the vampire in the back, precisely where his heart was. This didn't kill him, but instead infuriated him. Snarling viciously, the vampire ripped the spear out from his back and snapped it as easily as a twig, tossing the remains aside and advancing on Alaric, whose eyes were wide. Seeing a chance, Damon hurried forward, stabbing the vampire in the same spot, hoping to cause _some _damage.

This time, his dagger went in a slightly different course to the vampire's heart and finally paralyzed him, sending a jolt through his body before falling to the ground. Damon sighed in relief, turning to face an astounded Alaric.

"'You think he was an Original?" Damon wondered aloud, taking his dagger from the vampire's back.

"Oh, yeah." Alaric nodded, salvaging the pointed end of his spear. "Where's John?" he frowned, looking around. Jonathan Gilbert had disappeared completely.

"Crap." Damon muttered. "John?" he called, hearing footsteps approaching the way they'd come.

"Right here!" John called, stepping out. Another person stepped out beside him, her face serious and brave. Her dark hair was tousled and her shirt was torn, with dried blood covering a side of her neck.

"Elena!" Damon cried, rushing up to her. He pulled her into a tight embrace, and felt her hugging him back fiercely. She sobbed into his shoulder, her calm and brave facade dissolving. They stood like that for a while, clinging onto each other as if they'd never let go.

Finally, Damon pulled back at Alaric clearing his throat loudly.

"Are you okay?" Damon looked deeply into Elena's eyes, searching for any sort of pain.

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied slowly, her hand automatically going up to her bloodied neck.

"You don't look like you're fine," Damon frowned, pulling her hand away and examining her neck. The bite marks beneath the dried blood were ragged and looked painful, but Elena seemed alright.

"It's okay, really," Elena insisted. "Anyways, we need to go. _Now_."

"Alright." Damon whispered.

"Let's go, already!" John said loudly, exasperated. Damon ground his teeth and nodded slowly, taking Elena's hand and following her father out of the large cavern. They walked slowly through the cavern, wary of their surroundings.

"That vampire back there will get up soon," Alaric warned them. "And the woman – she might as well."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, puzzled.

"Originals." Damon replied quietly. Her eyes widened as if she was remembering something.

"We have to hurry!" she cried. "Klaus – he's here, somewhere."

"I know." Damon said grimly, his walk already quickening.

"Bonnie is outside with Jeremy." Elena notified them. "I saw her."

"And you didn't go out with her?" Damon said with clenched teeth. Elena shook her head and looked at him as if he was insane, but Damon decided to ignore it.

"Come on – the exit's just up...Oh _shit_." He stopped dead, staring at the empty tunnel that they were about to proceed through. Elena's eyebrows were raised – she'd never heard him swear, even though it had always seemed like a Damon-sort-of-thing.

"What?" Elena said, a little annoyed.

"She's gone." Alaric murmured. "Let's go – quickly." Elena, still having no idea what they were talking about, let herself be surrounded by the three men as they walked down the tunnel very quickly, John nervously looking left and right.

As they turned a corner, Elena finally saw the shaft of light flooding in from a hole that lead up out of the caves, and the group quickened their pace. As they were finally just a few metres away, someone stepped in front of them. Damon seemed to recognise the vampire immediately, although Elena had no idea who it was – she could only assume that she was one of Klaus' allies.

Damon quickly tried to stab her with a dagger that Elena hadn't seen before while Alaric and John leapt forward to join the commotion, leaving Elena with her eyes wide, watching the fight. Damon was easy disarmed and a few shots from John's crossbow were dodged – even Alaric couldn't quite manage to stab the woman in the right places.

"Elena – go!" Damon yelled over the other vampire's snarl. Tears welling in her eyes, Elena nodded quickly and approached very slowly, seeing a gap between John's back and the wall. Alaric saw her and moved behind the vampire, nodding to Elena to go. She did, running up and slipping behind John. She ran to the hole and reached up to it, but embarrassingly found that she wasn't tall enough. Glaring at the shadows, she jumped up to try and reach it, but her hands only scraped across the edge. She cast a glance back to where the fight was and saw that the woman was losing against the three men. Elena looked back up into the sunshine, covering her eyes for a second.

"Elena?" she looked up and saw Jeremy leaning down.

"Oh thank God – Jeremy I need your help!" Elena said, holding up her hands. Instead, Jeremy jumped down, landing next to her with a loud _thud_.

"Jeremy what are you doing?" he grinned at her surprised expression, but then saw the fight down the tunnel.

"Alright." He positioned his hands to boost her up, and with hesitation she stepped on his hands, crawling up and outside. When she looked down at Jeremy, he gave her an apologetic glance before running down towards the fight, stake in hand.

"Jeremy!" Elena cried after him. "Don't!" but it was too late – he disappeared from sight. Biting her lip, Elena stood and saw Bonnie next to her. She jumped in surprise, but quickly relaxed.

"Bonnie," she sighed in relief. "Go get in the car – we need to go as soon as they're out."

"Elena." Bonnie put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I can help. You _know _I can." Elena was already shaking her head.

"No. No, I won't let you." She stated. Bonnie shook her head with a faint smile, before approaching the hole.

_Go – get in the car, _now_. _Damon's voice drifted to her mind, and she jumped at the sound, noticing that Bonnie had apparently heard it, too. They exchanged worried glances before hurrying to get in Damon's black convertible, waiting for Jeremy, Damon, Alaric, and John to climb out of the caves. First came Jeremy, covered in dirt and a little dried blood, he stood and stumbled over to the car, but before he got too close Bonnie was out and immediately helping him, putting him in the seat next to her. Next out was Alaric, who looked much worse. His hair was tousled and his childlike features were bruised and his eyelids were heavy. His shirt was ripped in some places and he used his tall spear to help him walk. He quickly entered his own truck, sighing and rubbing his eyes.

Finally Damon emerged, and Elena ran out to hug him tightly, but then returned to stand by his car.

_John's taking a while..._she thought with a frown.

"C'mon, Elena – we have to go." Damon said quietly, his face blank. He had started the Ferrari's engine but was waiting for her to enter.

"Where's John?" Elena asked, still staring at the entrance to the caves. When she looked back at Damon, she saw his expression was sympathetic.

Wait – Damon was _never_ sympathetic. He shook his head slowly, and Elena's eyes widened.

_No...No, no, no...He can't be _dead_. _She thought.

_But he gave his ring to Jeremy..._Elena countered.

"But Uncle John..." she whispered, fighting back tears that she knew she shouldn't have.

"He's gone." Damon murmured, just loud enough for Elena to hear. Nodding slowly with a shaken understanding, she sluggishly sat in the passenger seat, closing her door. As soon as she removed her hand from the door handle, the car was speeding off back to Mystic Falls, followed by Alaric.

**. . .**

Elena felt guilty.

She didn't tell Damon, because she knew he'd comfort her and say that John's death wasn't her fault, but it _was_. _That vampire in the caves was after _me_. _She thought miserably. _And John died fighting her._

Elena sat on her bed in her room, her diary open in front of her and her blue pen uncapped. She couldn't think up much to write, and so she settled with scribbling down her thoughts.

_Uncle John – my biological father – died today, and it's my fault._

_Damon, Alaric, Bonnie, Jeremy, and John had all gone to find me after Klaus did and on our way out of the caves where I was taken we ran into a vampire, who fought with Jeremy, Alaric, John, and Damon. Despite their numbers, it seemed like a tough match – well, I got this mostly from what they looked like when they exited and Jeremy's side of the story. John didn't make it though, and he had given his ring to Jeremy a few weeks ago, meaning that he didn't come back. I didn't even get to see his body (although I can't say I want to). I'm strangely calm about this – I should be crying at least, but I'm fine. Maybe I'm in shock. As much as I hate to admit it, I loved John. Sure, he was the crappiest father ever, but he was _my _father. _

_We haven't seen Stefan at all, and there have been no reported murders (thank God!) – But where _is _he? I guess that will be the new dilemma: Stefan. _

_For now, I think I'll concentrate on sleeping_.

* * *

**Yes, I know, crappy ending ;) I had to cut it off - I was writing too much! Did you know that this totalled 6 pages on Microsoft Word? That's a WOWER! I usually do 4.5! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll try to update before I leave - oh. Tomorrow. Lost the spelling bee last-chance-to-get-in-it competition today. :( Oh who cares, at least my spelling is ok in my fanfics. **

**Okay, enough of my nonsense,**

**Please Review! :D**


	12. Leaving

**Thanks for the great feedback! Here's the next chapter! **

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

Elena awoke to a shuffling noise in her bedroom.

Being a light sleeper, she was easily woken up, and stretched her arms out in front of her. Yawning quietly, she checked her clock on the table next to her bed. It was six o'clock in the morning – a little early for her to be waking up. Frowning, she sat up and slowly looked around; searching for whatever had woke her up. Finally, her eyes drifted over to the window, where the sun shone through the open blinds.

On the cushioned window seat, a figure sat calmly watching Elena. She jumped and her eyes widened, all tiredness now disappearing.

"Stefan," she breathed, her heart pounding. Stefan stood, taking a few slow steps towards Elena, who was frozen in her spot. Stefan stopped.

"Elena, I'm not here to hurt you." His tone was serious, and his eyes were pleading.

"Why _are _you here?" Elena asked, keeping a brave face.

"I just want to talk," Stefan murmured. "I need to explain some things to you." Elena didn't reply to this, but instead waited for him to continue.

"I was forced into changing into...this monster." He looked down with disgust – at himself. "Not completely, though. Once I was on the blood, I couldn't control myself. I can't lie. An Original came to me. I'm not sure who he was, though I fear it was Klaus. He compelled me into drinking human blood...And then left the rest to me." Stefan finished, taking a deep breath. His eyes met Elena's.

"I won't hurt anyone else, I swear to you." He whispered. "I know I don't deserve any forgiveness, but I'm so sorry for the damage I've already done."

Elena let out a breath she'd been holding, her tears finally streaming. She jumped off her bed and ran to Stefan, pulling him into a tight hug, closing her eyes.

"Stefan," she whispered. "I forgive you."

"Elena –" Stefan began, pulling back. Elena cut him off abruptly by kissing him, her arms still around him. After a moment of hesitation, Stefan kissed her back gently, but only for a few seconds. He pulled away from her, searching her face.

"Elena, you shouldn't forgive me. This is the second time I've become like this, and I realise now that it's too hard to control this part of me. I _can't_."

"What are you saying, Stefan?" Elena asked, alarmed.

"I can't be around you anymore. It's not safe. Who knows when I'll snap next? It's too much of a risk. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever hurt you, Elena." Stefan stopped for a moment, but hurried on before Elena could interrupt.

"I'm leaving. I don't know where I'll go, but it'll be away from here – far away from Mystic Falls." He murmured. Elena's tears were now of misery.

"No, no, _no_! Stefan you can't leave! You can't leave me! Please, Stefan, we can get through this. _Together_. Please don't leave..." she begged, her words turning into sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I love you." He whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"_Stefan_..." Elena whispered in protest, choking on her words. She blinked for a second, and Stefan was gone.

**. . .**

Damon opened the door to the boarding house a second before Stefan could knock, glaring at his younger brother.

"Stefan...Oh joy. What can I do for you?" Damon said dryly.

"Damon." Stefan nodded in greeting. "I'm leaving."

"You're _what_?" Damon looked surprised, his nonchalant act dropping for a moment.

"After what I've done here...I'm leaving Mystic Falls. Permanently." Stefan said in a low voice, his gaze never falling from his brother's eyes.

"So you're just going to leave Elena. Just like that." Damon snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"Damon, you don't understand. I can't control my thirst. Who knows when I'll slip up again? It's too dangerous for her." Stefan nearly whispered.

"With Klaus around, I'm not sure your departure is such a great idea." Damon snapped.

"Klaus?" Stefan's eyes widened. "He's _here_? In Mystic Falls?"

"Did you know that he kidnapped Elena? Could've killed her, if we'd been any longer to come to the rescue." His brother said.

"Klaus...I had no idea. I suspected that he was here but..." Stefan trailed off, shaking his head. "That changes a lot."

"Changing your mind about leaving?" Damon guessed.

"No." Stefan's head snapped up from where it had been facing the floor, and his green eyes were fierce as they glared at Damon.

"I'm still leaving. Elena would be better off without me. I can't protect her, not against an Original. Not even at my full strength. Either I'll hurt her, or I won't be able to stop someone else from hurting her." Stefan finished, his determined anger fading.

"Stefan..." Damon was about to talk some sense into his stubborn brother, but he was cut off by Stefan hugging him – definitely _not _something that Damon had ever expected from Stefan. His younger brother pulled back quickly, stepping back.

"Goodbye, Damon." Stefan gave his final words to his brother before taking another step backwards and disappearing.

Stefan was gone.

**. . .**

When Damon entered Elena's bedroom, he found her sitting on the seat by her window, hugging her knees to her chest. She stared blankly out of the glass, her eyes filled with tears.

She didn't even move when Damon came in, but stayed in that frozen position. The only noises were her heartbeat and her slow breathing. Damon walked quietly over to the window and sat beside her, making her finally move her gaze.

"He's gone." Elena's voice was hoarse and weak as she spoke, tears streaming.

"I know." Damon whispered. Elena took a breath in as if she was about to say something else, but didn't, and so Damon moved to get closer to her. With a smooth, fluid movement he put a comforting arm around her, allowing Elena to lean onto him. After a few seconds, she burst and sobbed into his chest.

After crying for a long time, Elena finally looked up at Damon.

"Thank you." She whispered. She then murmured, "Promise me...Promise me that – you'll never leave me."

"I promise." Damon kissed her gently on the forehead, seeing her smile faintly. Elena unwrapped her arms from her legs and pulled Damon into a hug where he couldn't help but think, _what's with all the hugging? _

He quickly forgot this as Elena faced him and quickly and pressed her lips to his with desperation, her arm moving to wrap around Damon's neck. Slowly, Elena shut her eyes and let herself be lost in the kiss, while Damon finally decided to react.

He kissed her fiercely and passionately, his arms around her. The only thoughts running through his mind were of Elena. Damon heard her heart thundering away in her chest, and her breaths came in small, quick pants as their mouths parted. Damon kissed her gently on the neck up to her jaw, hearing a quiet moan of pleasure from Elena.

His mouth made it back to her throat, where he couldn't quite stop his fangs from descending. They didn't pierce her skin, but Elena felt the sharp pain on her neck and took in a small gasp.

"Yes..." she whispered. "Please, Damon." Without waiting for more, Damon willingly sank his teeth into Elena's pale throat, feeling her flinch at the sharp but momentary pain. He drank slowly, knowing that it wasn't hurting Elena. After a nearly a minute, he pulled away, wiping the blood off of his mouth.

Their gaze never left each other, and after a second Damon leaned forward again...

To be disturbed by Jeremy.

"Hey Elena have you..." he stepped into her bedroom but trailed off as he saw Damon and Elena sitting so close, about to kiss again. His eyes flicked to his sister's neck and he saw the blood, now glaring at Damon.

"Jeremy -" Elena began.

"I don't want to hear it." Jeremy snapped. "But I want _him _the hell out of this house, and away from you."

"Jeremy!"

"He bit you, Elena!" Jeremy nearly yelled back, still standing in the doorway. "Did you _let _him?" When Elena showed no signs of protest, he shook his head in disgust.

"And what about Stefan, huh?" he said, his tone cold. "I'm sure he'd love this."

"Stefan left, Jeremy." Damon spoke this time, his voice calm. "For good." Jeremy was speechless for a moment, his mouth open.

"But...Why? Why would he just _leave_?" He asked.

"Because he thought that he was a danger to Elena." Damon answered.

"And of course, you take the first chance you get to leap on Elena once Stefan's gone." Jeremy spat. Within a second, everyone had moved.

Jeremy was pinned up against the wall with a very angry Damon in front of him with a hand around his neck. Elena had jumped up and stood behind the boys.  
"Damon!" she yelled. "Let him go!" When he didn't, Elena ran up to him and stood between the two, unable to move Damon's hand around Jeremy' s neck.

She did get his attention, however.  
"Damon, _let him go_." Elena demanded. Glaring at him, Damon let Jeremy go, and he quickly gasped in air. Coughing, Jeremy leaned over to catch his breath, while Damon turned away slightly. As soon as Jeremy was upright, he took a step towards Damon and swung a fast punch, nearly hitting Damon.

His vampire reflexes were faster, though, and his hand shot up to stop Jeremy's fist.

"You should _not _have done that..." Damon growled. He dropped Jeremy's hand and hit him back even harder, his hand flying too fast for Jeremy to see. The wind was knocked out of his lungs as the force of the blow sent him flying across the room. He hit the far wall and groaned in pain.  
"Jeremy!" Elena cried, running towards him. He appeared to be fine, and got up immediately, fuming.

"Are you okay?" Elena demanded, tugging Jeremy's sleeve.

"I'm fine." He muttered, wincing in pain as he spoke. His jaw didn't look quite right, and Elena suspected that it was broken. After a punch from a vampire, _something _had to be broken. Jeremy was lucky to be alive.

"Damon!" Elena turned to him. Damon stood glaring at Jeremy, but his gaze moved to Elena as she spoke.

"You could have killed him!" she cried.

"But I didn't." Damon answered. Jeremy stormed out of Elena's bedroom furiously, slamming the door of his own room shut.

Elena let out a breath.

"I should go talk to him..." she murmured.

"No use." Damon said. "He won't listen to you or me." He cocked his head to the left, listening.

"He's leaving the house. Probably heading to the Grill or Bonnie's." Damon notified Elena. Surely enough, Elena head Jeremy's loud footsteps hurrying down the stairs and out the front door, not taking any time to stop and grab anything.

She sighed, biting her lip. She shouldn't have kissed Damon. She knew that only did it because she was reacting to Stefan's abrupt departure and needed someone there. Elena had changed her pain into passion.

Without meeting Damon's eyes, she quickly grabbed her clothes from her drawers and hurried into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind her. She let out a shaky breath, looking at herself in the mirror.

She looked exhausted with dark circles under her eyes and her face was pale. Her eyes were wide and red from crying, and her lips sore. Her brown hair was messy and pushed onto one shoulder, baring one side of her neck. Nervously, her eyes trailed down to the blood on her throat and the two tiny holes covered in a few drops of dried blood. It was disgusting, no matter how pleasurable the experience might have been.

_No! _Elena thought to herself furiously. _I'm not meant to enjoy _vampire bites_! _But she couldn't blame Damon. After all, she had wanted it.

After quickly changing and washing off the blood with cold water, Elena exited the bathroom, expecting to see Damon waiting for her. To her surprise, he was gone.

**. . .**

Damon sat by the fire in the boarding house, sipping at a glass of what he suspected was vodka.

He didn't know why he was sulking like this - it was probably because he was just a bitter person. He knew that Elena had only kissed him out of desperation, and yet Damon hadn't tried to stop her - or himself. He was desperate for her.

She had told him that she loved him - but that was during the time when Stefan wasn't there for her, and maybe she just needed someone to turn to. Damon didn't know - he was confused about her feelings towards him and it _hurt_.

His thoughts were clouded but he found himself still thinking of their kiss. It made him smile, and he fought to not charge up to her house at that moment.

Damon had planned to go after Stefan, but when he had reached the boarding house he had changed his mind and settled on sitting alone. Annoyingly, he heard a knock on the door which he proceeded to ignore.

_Knock, knock_. It came again. Damon sat perfectly still, staring at the flames. Once more the annoying banging on the door came, and Damon sighed in frustration, ghosting to the door. He flung it open furiously and was met by Elena standing in the doorway, looking...different. Her lips played at a smile and she was wearing clothes that were revealing and quite unusual for Elena. Also, her hair was curled.

"Elena?" Damon frowned. She smirked.

"Think again." she said in a sweet but malicious voice.

"Katherine." Damon breathed, glaring. "How did you get out of the tomb?" he demanded. Bonnie had put a spell on the tomb to imprison Katherine in it's darkness once again, but here she was, standing in front of him.

"It's nice to see you too, Damon." Katherine said sarcastically, her smile wide now. "I'm fine, thanks for asking." She slipped past Damon into the boarding house before he could stop her. Fuming, Damon spun around and raced forward, grabbing Katherine and pinning her on the ground with a tight grip around her neck. With that small smile that annoyed Damon so much, Katherine quickly reversed the situation, sitting on top of Damon.

"That's no way to treat a guest," she teased, leaning close to him. She was now closer than Damon felt comfortable with, and he quickly pushed her off and stood.

"You're not a guest," Damon spat acidly. "An you're going to leave as soon as you tell me how the _hell _you got out of the tomb."

"Aww..." Katherine pouted. "I was hoping we could have some fun." She grinned, stepping closer to Damon.

"Go to Hell, Katherine." he sneered. She was now only inches away from him, and Damon could feel her hot breath on his face.

"You're no fun." she whispered. With a quick, smooth movement she pushed Damon up against the wall and trailed a gentle finger across down his chest, smiling. When Damon didn't move, Katherine pulled his face down to hers and kissed him fiercely, not letting him break away. She pulled at his hair and pressed close to him, the kiss stopping suddenly as Damon pushed her away rougly. She smirked and kept her balance, stepping back.

"You need to leave." Damon said coldly.

"No thanks. I think I'll stick around a while." Katherine said, her arms folded across her chest. In a blur, Damon grabbed the wooden stake on the table beside him and rushed forward, stabbing Katherine brutally in her stomach.

"Ah!" she cried out, doubling over and coughing. Her hands flitted around the stake, trying to get a firm hold on it. Glaring, Damon grabbed it and yanked it out, causing her another gasp. Before she could recover, he staked her in the same place, knowing that it wouldn't kill her.

Furiously, he lifted her by her brown curls and dragged her outside, dumping her in the grass by the driveway.

"You'd better not come back." Damon stood over her, glaring. He returned quickly to the boarding house, leaving Katherine writhing in pain.

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**Hoope you ennjoyeed! Sorry it took so long, but this is a long chapter! :D Oh, and I think I'm going to change the name of this story...My original idea for this story was relevant to the title, but I've changed it so much so...Yep.**

**Please review ;)**


	13. Taken

**Hey, sorry for the INCREDIBLY long break, and without further wait, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

After his encounter with Katherine, Damon was in a foul mood.

He pained over Stefan leaving, no matter how hard he tried to suppress the feeling. He loved his brother, and the thought of him never returning hurt.

Damon had of course tried to follow Stefan – he wanted to convince his younger brother to stay. Stefan had been smart, however. He had left no tracks but only a confusing trail of scent. Feeling defeated, Damon had given up.

Now he sat on Stefan's bed, staring around the room. Stefan had taken some of his clothes and a single photograph of Elena and himself, leaving everything else of his old life behind. Staring around the neat room, Damon found a tear come to his eye. He shook his head and laughed bitterly. Just a year ago, he would have been more than glad to see his brother disappear forever. He wiped his face with the end of his sleeve, standing up and abandoning his empty glass on Stefan's bed. Damon hurried down the old, creaking stairs, making no noise as he bounded into the living room.

He decided that he would go talk to Elena. She needed him right now, after Stefan had left. He couldn't mope around any longer. Within a few seconds he was out the door and flying through the wood next to the road, dodging trees. He was so fixed on his destination that he didn't notice the figure following close behind.

**. . .**

Damon's knock was answered quickly by Elena, who gave a slight smile when she saw him.

"Hey." She murmured a greeting, opening the door wider for him to enter. He walked in slowly, turning to face Elena as she closed the door.

"I need to ask you something." Damon said, taking a deep breath. Elena nodded, putting her hands behind her back. She leaned against the door, waiting for Damon to continue. He spoke quickly and quietly, his eyes wandering.  
"I want to know if you were only…" he struggled for the right words. "_With me_, because Stefan was gone." He sent her mental images and thoughts – every kiss they'd shared, when they confessed their love for each other…_Was that because Stefan was gone? Because you had no one else? _He thought. Elena was shocked, her thoughts confused at all that he'd sent her.

_Why would you think that? _She directed her thought towards Damon, frowning. He looked down, not answering.

Elena put her hands on either side of his face and pulled his gaze up to hers.

"I love you." She whispered, bringing him down to kiss her.

"I hate to interrupt…" a voice muttered from behind Damon. He broke away quickly, spinning around. He recognised the speaker immediately and felt his stomach sink.

_Go_. He sent Elena, picturing the door as he thought it. Luckily, the vampire in front of him didn't seem to notice.

"Klaus." Damon said grimly, his jaw clenched.

"Ah, so nice of you to recognise me. I must say, you weren't too kind when you tried to kill me." Klaus smiled, showing white teeth.

"And darling Elena, so nice to see you again." Elena shuddered, her hand slowly edging towards the door handle.

"I wouldn't try something so stupid, if I were you." Klaus' smile faded. He glanced at Damon. "If you would kindly move aside, there will be no need for violence here." Damon stood still, glaring at Klaus, who sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"Fine, fine. But what a waste." He shrugged.

"Damon…" Elena whispered. He didn't respond. "_Damon_." She pushed him slightly, knowing that he'd only get killed if he tried to protect her.

_Damon, please. He'll kill you. _Elena thought. _I'll be fine._ She knew that was a lie, but she had to make him back down.

"I think you should listen to her." Klaus suggested. Glancing back at Elena with agony in his eyes, Damon stepped aside with great reluctance.

_I'm sorry._ He thought. _I'm so sorry. _Elena smiled faintly.

She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips once more before disappearing with Klaus.

**. . .**

"Damon?" Alaric called, entering the boarding house. When there was no response, he hurried into the spacious living room where Damon paced furiously, muttering to Bonnie, who sat on one of the many couches.

"…but Jeremy's not here!" Bonnie protested to something that Damon had said.

"What about Jenna?" He suggested coldly. Bonnie frowned.

"She hasn't been around for a while, now." She said.

Alaric chose that moment to intervene, worried about Jenna. "What's going on?" he asked. Damon didn't acknowledge his presence, but continued in his pace.

"Klaus took Elena." Bonnie said quietly.

"_What_?" Alaric yelled. "Well – why can't you use that tracking spell?" Bonnie seemed exasperated. "We don't know where Jenna and Jeremy are."

"What about J -" Alaric stopped, frowning. He had almost said _John_.

"Where you there when he came?" he asked Damon, who stopped.

"Yes." He answered in a low voice.

"Did you try to follow him?" Alaric asked. Damon nodded. Obviously he hadn't been successful.

"So what do we do?" he asked in a low voice. Damon turned to face him, scowling.

"_I don't know!_" he yelled in response. No one spoke for a few moments, but the silence was quickly interrupted by Bonnie's shrill ringtone. She opened her phone and spoke quietly, looking away from Damon and Alaric.

"Hello?" she murmured. Her eyes widened. "Jeremy! Thank God, you need to come over here _right now_. Klaus -" Bonnie was cut off by Jeremy saying something. Damon wasn't quite bothered to listen in closely enough to see what he was saying, but Bonnie looked horrified.

"Where are you?" she whispered. "We _will _come for you – and Elena. I _promise_." Damon listened more closely.

"_No, Bonnie – you can't. He'll kill -_"Jeremy was cut off. "_I think that's enough, don't you?" _He stiffened. _Klaus_. He looked at Alaric, whose brows were furrowed in confusion. Damon mouthed to him: _Klaus_, and Alaric instantly paled.

"_Now, if you want your precious friend, you had better listen very closely. In two days time is the full moon – when I will perform the Sacrifice. I want _no _interference at _all_. I also want you to bring me Tyler Lockwood. After all, I need a werewolf for the Sacrifice._" He paused. "_I want that werewolf by tomorrow before midnight._" Without another word, the line went dead. With a shaking hand, Bonnie pulled the phone away from her ear.

"What's going on?" Alaric demanded.

"Klaus...He has Jeremy, too. He said that the Sacrifice is in two days and that – in exchange for J-Jeremy...He wants Tyler." Bonnie stuttered, tears pooling in her eyes. Alaric looked to Damon, who shrugged.

"I say we hand over Tyler, and then ambush Klaus. Easy kill." He suggested.

"It's not that _easy_." Alaric snapped. "Don't you think he'll be anticipating that? And Klaus is most definitely _not _easy to kill."

"What do _you _propose we do, then?"

"Get help. Gather every vampire, witch – _anyone _who'll help us. Klaus has got to have some enemies." Alaric said. Immediately a face came to Damon's mind.

_Another way to break the curse..._

"Elijah." Damon said aloud.

"Who?" Alaric asked, confused.

"Elijah – he's an Original. He came to Elena a few days ago proposing a deal. He said that he could offer another way to break the curse, but never got to mention what he wanted in return." Damon explained.

"Why not?"

"Well at the time, I didn't really want the curse broken at all." He said in a bitter tone. "But now it seems that Klaus won't take no for an answer – we could at least use a method that doesn't involve killing Elena." Damon flinched at his own words.

"But how are we going to find him?" Bonnie spoke, her tone firm. A smile pulled at Damon's lips.

"Oh, he has a way of showing up just when you need him."

It turned out that Damon was right, and Elijah wasn't hard to find. Bonnie had cast a small summoning spell and he had sauntered in before she had finished.

"Finally need my help, do you?" he smirked. Damon opened his mouth to snap back at him, but Alaric spoke first, sending Damon a glare.

"Klaus has taken Elena." He explained. "We need your help to rescue her – you're our only hope against an Original." Elijah lost his smirk, shifting in his stance slightly.

"I doubt Klaus will be the only Original present, and even if he is, I will not be able to take him down alone." He said grimly.

Damon grinned maliciously. "I'll sure as hell help you kill him." He said. Elijah shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

"You'll be no use. He'll kill you in an instant."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Damon snapped impatiently. He noticed Elijah's eyes flick to Bonnie and frowned.  
"How can _she _help?" he said. Bonnie glared at Damon briefly, before turning to Elijah with a questioning gaze.

"If she had enough power, Bonnie will be able to weaken Klaus enough for me to kill him." He said slowly, watching everyone carefully.

"I'm sorry, I wish I _could_ help – but I'm just not strong enough. I don't have enough power." Bonnie demanded. Again, Elijah hesitated, unsure if he should reveal too much information. With a light shrug, he continued.

"After the Salem Witch Trials, the witches were buried out in a burial ground. Not many people know where it is. You will be able to harness their power there, giving you an advantage over whatever witch Klaus has." He explained lightly, frowning at Bonnie's worried expression.

"Why would a witch help Klaus?" she demanded. It came to her before he could answer. "The Sacrifice. Of course." She shook her head in dismay.

"If he has a witch – or warlock – I'm sure they're bound to be a lot more powerful than I am, even with the help of the burial ground." Bonnie said, much to Damon's fury.

"Well you can't just give up!" he snarled. "Aren't you going to at least try? For Elena's sake?" She was silent for a moment, scowling at Damon and holding back the aneurism he was sure to get soon.

"Alright. But it's for _Elena._" His anger dissipating, Damon gave a small thankful nod, but his indifferent mask soon came up.

He then turned to Elijah, asking him where Klaus might be.

"I am not sure. It will surely be somewhere with great power for the Sacrifice, but it could be miles away." He said with a sigh. The full moon was in only two days – which wasn't long enough for them to find Klaus if he was far away.

"Wait!" Alaric's eyes lit up. "Klaus wanted us to bring him Tyler Lockwood – well we need to know where he is, don't we? He's probably nearby, waiting for us. And -" he paused, considering something.

"Didn't you say the burial ground of the witches had a lot of power? It's nearby, too..." he trailed off, looking at the others meaningfully.

"Of course!" Bonnie gasped. "That's where he'll hold the Sacrifice!"

**. . .**

Elena shivered in the cold, damp cell she'd been left in, pulling her light sweater sleeves over her hands. She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them and resting her head.

_Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a moment..._No! Elena wouldn't let herself fall asleep. Not while _he _was so near.

As if on cue, the creaking of the metal door at the end of the hallway echoed into her cell, and she heard shuffling footsteps. In the dim light, she saw a feminine figure approach her, carrying what looked like a body over her shoulder. Elena quickly stood up, pressing herself against the back wall as the rusty barred door to her dirty little room was opened by a huge key, and the limp figure that the woman had been carrying was thrust inside. The door was locked in a blur, and the woman suddenly disappeared.

_Vampire_. She confirmed mentally. Her attention was then drawn to the unmoving figure by the locked door, and Elena cautiously kneeled by his side. Yes, even in the darkness, she could tell he was male. She rolled him over gently onto his back, and stopped breathing when she saw his face.

It was Jeremy.

"Jeremy?" she whispered in horror, her fingers going to his neck automatically and searching for his pulse. Her heart rate slowed some when she found it beating steadily, but she was still horrified that he was here. _No, no, _no_! _She hadn't intended for anyone she loved to be caught up in this mess, but her dear younger brother, her only remaining family member, had ended up in the hellhole with her!

"This can't be happening..." she whispered barely audibly, backing up again, staying on her knees. Just then, Jeremy gave a little groan as his eyes fluttered open. Elena was back at his side like she'd never left.

"Jeremy? Are you okay?" she said breathlessly, her eyes darting to his neck. There were no fang marks, to her huge relief, and he seemed fine.

"Elena?" he seemed like he was surprised to see her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Where are-" he paused remembering something.

"Oh, crap."

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**Looks like Jeremy and Elena are in trouble..;D**

**Sorry it's quite short, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. I warn you now, the next chapter may not be up for a while, and I've given up with changing the name. Just go along with it! :) **

**See you next time - Remember to review, it's fuel to the story ;)**


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